Over the past months, Resources and Infrastructure Minister Ninu Zammit has been busy visiting various places where restoration work is being carried out.

He has been to chapels where thousands of liri are being spent to give a facelift to the structures. He has been to visit work that is being carried out on public squares, gardens and areas such as Ghar id-Dud in Sliema, where embellishment projects are taking place.

He has also overseen workers removing tonnes of illegally dumped waste in the countryside – which in some cases was blocking the natural flow of rainwater, which then ended up flooding our roads. And he has not given up, even though several times, unfortunately, these same areas were once again used for the illegal dumping of waste.

Last week, he was at Qormi to check on work that is being done to better control storm. Here, Lm1.5 million has been invested on the 1.5 kilometre stretch, aimed at preventing storm water from causing damage.

Other projects have already been completed, and one here can mention the paving of Mdina, which might have taken longer than planned because of logistical problems that cropped up, but which in the end has given the old capital city a new lease of life.

In most instances, the work is being carried out by government workers, who are certainly doing a good job of making Malta a better place in which to live. Eyesores are being removed, dilapidated buildings are being restored and public areas frequented by thousands of people are being given a new look.

Some may argue that the changes that are being carried out will mean that the past is lost, that these places will no longer be the same. But while understanding the nostalgic feeling of those who are perhaps too conservative in their approach, it must be admitted that such work is needed.

Taking Ghar id-Dud as an example, the older generations will perhaps think that the Chalet should have remained there as a memory of evenings out with friends. But when one considers that it had become a dangerous place and there was a risk that it could one day collapse, it was not a bad idea to demolish it. It was a place full of memories for many, but we all must admit that over years it had become an eyesore.

The paving of the promontory – those small red squares interspersed with the bigger white slabs: who does not remember, as a child, jumping sideways from one red square to another, sometimes bumping into people taking a stroll? – was also past it and needed to be replaced.

That all this work is being carried out by government employees is a feather in Minister Zammit’s cap. Too often we tend to complain that government workers are lazy, and that work that could be carried out by one person has five assigned to it. But when it comes to doing something, they are capable of doing it well. Under the right supervision, government workers can perform and deliver.

Of course, we would all like a given project to start and finish quickly, and meet the deadlines established, but at the end of the day what matters most is that, once projects are completed, they live up to expectations and we can all enjoy them.

All in all, the projects being carried out by the ministry will serve to make Malta more beautiful and attractive, to both locals and tourists. The fact that several of these restoration projects are not in the heart of our tourism industry will perhaps also encourage tourists to visit our villages, and get a glimpse of traditional Maltese life.