Having read a report (TMID, 20 January) that the Malta Tourism Authority had launched a new website, I hastened to look at it. Unfortunately, I was somewhat disappointed to find a considerable number of grammatical and historical errors which, in my view, need to be corrected.

As examples of grammatical errors, one may mention: “the water and air tends to be…”; “theatre and music is …”; “Sacra Infermia” which, presumably, refers to the “Sacra Infermeria.”

In writing, it is usually considered unacceptable to use “you’re” for you are, “it’s” for it is, etc. as is done on the website. Sentence construction, in some instances, leaves much to be desired. There is also some unfortunate use of vocabulary such as the description of Gozo as a “backwater” and the Maltese countryside being “littered” (sic) with “the oldest known human structures in the world”—Ggantija Temples may have been described as “the oldest free-standing buildings in the world” but the oldest human structures are certainly not found in the Maltese islands.

With regard to history, there are also inaccuracies, some rather serious. In the first paragraph of the section on “Culture and Heritage,” it is stated that the Greeks were among the occupiers who “later on...yielded” the islands to the Arabs and the Normans. First of all, Malta was never occupied by the Greeks (though one may find Greek influence in some artifacts) and, therefore, they could not have yielded it to anyone.

Secondly, it was the Byzantines who lost Malta to the Arabs and they are not even mentioned here in spite of their having ruled the islands for more than three centuries.

Also skipped is the Aragonese-Spanish period, which also lasted centuries. Another grave inaccuracy is found in the words: “It was the Knights of St John who, in restoring the links with Christianity…”—the Knights did nothing of the sort as Malta had reverted to Christianity some three centuries before their arrival in 1530.

Another inaccurate description is that of St James Cavalier in Valletta as “a superbly restored ancient fortification.” Buildings dating back to only 400 years ago do not qualify as “ancient.” Another puzzling statement is the one which states that Dingli Cliffs are “named after the famous Maltese 17th century architect Tommaso Dingli”—as far as is known, these cliffs are so called after the village of Dingli (Had-Dingli) and the name of the village, which possibly is derived from the surname Dingli, predates the 17th century.

It may be suggested that the website, as far as these sections are concerned, be revised. Historical inaccuracies in a tourism website are hardly excusable and grammatical errors in a site which may be consulted by prospective foreign students of English may have counterproductive effects.

Dr Mario Costa

Moscow