A public outcry about two political billboards blocking the view of Valletta’s 450-year-old bastions has started bearing fruit.

Times of Malta first reported on the offending billboards one month ago. V18 chairman Jason Micallef chimed in last week, slamming them as “heritage pollution” and shaming the two political parties into contrition.

“This poor mentality, from both parties, has led to a national landmark, being turned into a hub of political billboards. It just isn’t acceptable,” Mr Micallef had said.

With the PL billboard now removed, the Nationalist Party equivalent is now the sole remaining culprit. The billboard has been there long enough for the party to change its content. 

A PN spokesman said the party was waiting for a court decision, due by tomorrow, before removing their billboard.

“We cannot remove the billboard until the court injunction is removed. Once that is done, the billboard will be removed within an hour,” a PN spokesperson told Times of Malta.

Their PL equivalent said that the party had decided to go ahead with the billboard removal straight away. “We felt that the situation merited action,” a party spokesman said.

The court injunction in question relates to a legal battle over recent changes to billboard regulations. The PN is challenging the changes, saying they would muzzle it by forcing it to pay prohibitive fees to displays its billboards.

The situation one month ago. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli