I refer to the article entitled ‘Musing on Ta’ Xbiex’s origin and past’, by Salvator Mousù, (The Sunday Times of Malta, March 17).

I was very surprised with some of his comments regarding the origins of Ta’ Xbiex, which I do not agree with.

As regards Ta’ Xbiex parish church, it was built on behalf the Carmelite Order Minors on land donated by Marquis Testaferrata, and on June 1,1969, it celebrated 10 years as a parish.

The Testaferrata coat of arms arch was shamefully pulled down by some land developers and I hope that the other arch, next to Muscat’s Garage, will be protected as it has an important history.

My grandfather and great-aunt were one of the first builders, among others, in the Ta’ Xbiex Rampa, among the most beautiful villas.

On December 23, 1993, I was elected the first mayor of Ta’ Xbiex and during my two terms in office, I tried to improve the locality and studied the origin of its name.

Ta’ Xbiex used to extend to Rue D’Argens and the Msida Police Station. St Joseph’s church was built on Ta’ Xbiex ground for a sum of £880. With reference to Ta’ Xbiex’s name this came from the fact that the fishermen used to dry their fishing nets in the locality of Ta’ Xbieki.

Old maps, dating back to 1663, show that on the peninsula of Ta’ Xbiex there were proposals by the then Grand Master to build a fortress similar to that of Lazzaretto lsland, as it was then known.

During my time as a mayor I had found out that there were prehistoric remains in Ta’ Xbiex which the pre-1987 Labour government had ignored when they were building the Ta’ Xbiex housing estate, thus destroying such important historic remains.