The flight of stairs looks like some horrendous extra out of a science fiction film, if one were to look kindly on it. With the constant rape of the area behind and next to to the beautiful Villa Preziosi now a foregone conclusion, this latest contraption has been erected for the glorification of all and was inaugurated with much pomp and circumstance.

“It looks exctly like a gallows,” one irate resident told me. I almost laughed but as I turned to look at the structure, it dawned on me that it would serve that gruesome purpose pretty well. “One does not even climb three flights of steps these days as there are lifts everywhere so how do they expect people to take a seven storey excursion on this staircase?” another man said.

Other comments that came my way included the fact that the road was resurfaced five times with animal waste left as a souvenir. (The original expletive was somewhat too hot for this paper!). “The lights are ridiculous and look too artificial and there aren't any rubbish bins,” another resident told me. The shelters which were restored seem to be used as waste repositories now.

“Nobody mentioned that the road collapsed after work on the cliff face and enormous amounts of money had to be spent to reinforce the place with concrete slabs, which were shoddily covered with rubble.” The cost for this exercise was quoted at Lm280,000 but at least one source told this paper that the amount must be considerably higher. A colony of hedgehogs has also disappeared in the process, a sad and irreparable loss for the environment of the area.

The real quirk of this ill-executed project is the fact that parking space has been reduced instead of increased. “They could have spent about Lm10,000 and worked to preserve the natural environment thus lessening the need for regular maintenance.” It appears that the area requires constant maintenance and the St Paul's Bay residents cannot understand how this area has now had its problems multiplied instead of alleviated.