The fact that former MP George Pullicino asks me to refer to him as a “Sliema boy” says a lot. Firstly, and obviously, the degree to which he identifies with his home town, but secondly, and quite endearingly that he is, and will always be, young at heart.

The majority of us know Pullicino as a political figure, in various roles within the Nationalist Party including Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs and the Environment, and subsequently as Minister, with a similar remit, between 1998 and 2017.

While being a politician is very much a public role, this Sliema boy has a rich life outside of his political sphere, including an idyllic childhood spent in a Sliema which was very different to the one we know today.

Pullicino, born in 1964, attended the small nursery school on Balluta Hill and later on the Sliema Primary School, which “back then seemed enormous compared to the nursery school”.

He has very good memories of both schools:

“When we were not at school we spent most of our time playing in the street. It was safe then and hardly any cars would pass through our street. In summer my siblings and I spent the entire day at Exiles beach and, as I grew older, I eventually moved to the Sliema pitch. We used to go back home briefly for lunch and then rush back to the beach.

“When I was eight, I joined the St Gregory’s Church altar boys and later on the St Gregory’s Church Children’s Choir.”

His childhood was very Sliema-centred. 

Pullicino knows the Sliema of the late 1960s and early 1970s, a much simpler town.

“It was also a Sliema with much less choice. If you wanted a good ice-cream – you had basically one choice, which was Tanti Palmier near Chalet. For a good lemon granita you headed to the Balluta kiosk. There were only two playgrounds: one near it-Torri and the other, if you could call it so, at Qui-si-Sana. But we made good use of l-għalqa, where Independence Garden is located today,” recalls Pullicino fondly.

The simplicity of this town was not all that made it different to today as within their neighbourhood they had a strong presence of British forces servicemen.

Despite the drastic changes to the town, Pullicino still finds there to be, to a certain extent, “a strong community feeling”.

“We treat the seafront and the Ferries area as our extended living room. If you’re bored at home, you can easily go for a walk on the seafront or maybe walk down to the Ferries to one of the many cafeterias for a chat. Sliema is somewhere where I feel I belong. I’m comfortable in all its nooks and crannies.”

Pullicino became interested in politics at an early age, becoming president of the New Lyceum Students’ Council at 17. He attributes the seeds of this interest to his father.

“My father was no political animal, but occasionally he attended some political events and used to take me with him. He was close to Ċensu Tabone and I still remember him visiting us.”

Later on Dr Tabone, who back then was AZAD Chairman, enticed Pullicino to make use of the AZAD library, at that time located in High Street, Sliema and Pullicino succumbed to reading political material, most of it in Italian, early on in life. 

A secondary school teacher who doubled as an SDM leader was also an important influence: At the age of 15, he started attending SDM formation meetings. His main political mentors eventually were Joe Cassar, who had graduated in political science in Milan and Fr Peter Serracino Inglott.

In summer my siblings and I spent the entire day at Exiles beach and, as I grew older, I eventually moved to the Sliema pitch

Pullicino recalls “it was a turbulent period back then” and one particularly strong memory when, aged 18, he addressed a huge mass gathering at St Aloysius College in support of church and private schools.

The former MP confides that it is not easy to be out of politics, especially after spending so many years in politics. However there is also the positive side to it and he has started spending more time with family and friends.

“When you’ve lived your entire life in politics, it runs through your veins and much as you’d want to, it’s pretty difficult, if not impossible, to shut down completely. But there is some distance today that I would have not thought possible only a while ago.”

Pullicino now dedicates most of his time to his profession as an architect. He talks about the difficult transition after a long time in politics: “In 2013 it was quite difficult to attract clients since I had severed my links with an architectural office for more than 15 years, however I managed to do so gradually.”

Pullicino has a long list of achievements he can look proudly back on, including his biggest challenge of rehabilitating the Maghtab landfill and turning it into a proper engineered one. He is also immensely proud of the huge restoration programme carried out on the main fortifications in Valletta, Mdina, Victoria (Gozo) and Cottonera. 

On looking back however, he reflects that the revision of the Local Plans should have been handled better.

”We were duty bound to revise and define the development areas boundaries that were temporarily designated way back in 1989. We tried to formulate a coherent and consistent measuring ruler to an exercise which had started in the early 1990s, but we did not manage to communicate this well to civil society.” 

Returning to talk about Sliema, we cannot ignore the topic of the many old, historic buildings that are being pulled down. Pullicino laments how unfortunately Sliema started being pulled down in the late 1960s, but the demolition intensified in the 1970s and 1980s. He blames the fact that urban planning came too late to Malta, adding that when in 1989 the Development Planning Law came into effect, to a certain extent, it was already too late.

“A high concrete rim was created around the Sliema seafront, starting with the Preluna Hotel down to the Plaza Hotel area. This continued with the remaining Tigne’ peninsula. The development that had taken place could not be reversed – on the contrary it had set precedents.”

Pullicino firmly believes the biggest mistake was committed when the 1989 Temporary Revision Schemes (Pjan Regolatur Temporanju) omitted the entire Tigne’ peninsula from being classified as an Urban Conservation Area, a classification which was awarded to other Sliema areas which needed proper redevelopment.

Back then, as a University student, he remembers attending a public consultation meeting on the subject and had stood up to voice his concerns against such an omission. The Local Plan in 2006 tried to address the issue.

“We lowered the building height in some areas and declared certain quarters as scheduled areas, but by then too much harm had been done. We couldn’t reverse the situation.”

We are talking politics again, but return to talk about a side to Pullicino that perhaps less people know about: waterpolo. Looking back on when he played with the Sliema ASC Under 16s and Under 18s, he reminisces that “it was probably the best time of my life. I love the waterpolo game. It is a very tough sport but very rewarding in terms of personal development, both physical and mental.”

The family feeling of the Sliema pitch is something he still treasures, and more often than not, that is where you will find his family on any Sunday in summer.

Pullicino is also good in the kitchen, something he gets from his mum. “Whenever we have guests at home, I do most of the cooking. It is one of the few activities which helps me unwind and detach myself from my normal hectic routine,” he reveals, adding that while he likes cooking all sorts of dishes, his favourites are Italian, and North African ones.

Pullicino is keen to talk further about the quieter side to his life, though in so doing reveals he has not quite quieted down enough.

“I love dogs and animals in general,” says the man who had convinced government to build the first 24-hour clinic for animals in Malta. While he used to own a dog when younger, since both he and his wife lead very busy lives they think it’s not fair to own a dog and leave it alone most of the time.

“Hopefully,” he says, “someday when our lives become less hectic, I will become a dog owner again.”

This article first appeared in the Sliema Times.