The second national event to take place on Sunday – after the President’s run for charity in the morning – was the re-opening of St George’s Square in Valletta, in the evening.

Six months after one of the greatest historical open areas was closed to the public for a massive renovation, the square was re-opened with a spectacular show. A week of activities is also being held to celebrate the occasion.

Both Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Resources Minister George Pullicino, in their address for the occasion, stressed the importance of the square – which for many years had been degraded as a car park – in the history of the country.

With open spaces in Valletta so limited in number, the loss of such a majestic square to cars was a shame. It was one of the nation’s biggest sins. Now that the square has been given back to the people, and in such splendour, Valletta and the whole of Malta have regained their “city centre”.

This renovation project forms part of the government’s plans to regenerate the capital city. For many years, Valletta was neglected and abandoned. Now, with such projects and the future rebuilding of City Gate and the regeneration of the Grand Harbour area, Valletta will hopefully regain the status of a welcoming city, one of the most beautiful in the world.

In his speech, Mr Pullicino described St George’s Square – the site where so many historical events took place and where Heads of State and of Government are welcomed before they enter the Presidential Palace – as the “people’s square”.

And perhaps the reopening of the square should have coincided with the renaming of the place – instead of St George’s Square, it should now be called “The People’s Square”.

It will be hard for everyone to start referring to it as such – some people still refer to Republic Street with its old name of Strada Rjali – but it is felt that the phrase coined by Mr Pullicino last Sunday should be the new official name of the open space.

Its current name is too much of a link to the colonial days, and giving it a new name on the day when it was reopened to the public would have been the right occasion to give the square a fresh start, not only from the point of view of its physical appearance. Hopefully, we are still in time to make the change.

After all, as Dr Gonzi said, the Maltese people have expressed their beliefs, fought their battles and celebrated their victories in this square, and naming it for the people should not create any controversy. Rome has its own Piazza del Popolo, so there is nothing wrong for Valletta to have its own.

Going back to the renovation process, it must be said that the ministry has done a good job. The inclusion of water features, so common in the various restoration projects the Resources Ministry is carrying out these days, gives a sense of life and movement. The removal of the Sette Giugno monument is also welcome, as this will now be incorporated in the new designs for the Parliament building in Freedom Square – where it will be more appropriate to have a remembrance of the riots which paved the way for Malta to have its own House of Representatives.

As reported in The Malta Independent on Sunday a few days ago, the ministry is busy with a number of projects in various areas across Malta. These are set to give a fresh look to the cores of villages and other areas frequented by the public. Little, big things that make our localities better places to live in.