Reliable sources have confirmed that Dr Ray Bondin (right) has resigned from his position as Executive Coordinator of the three Rehabilitation Projects within the Ministry for Resources and Infrastructure.

He has been responsible for the Valletta Rehabilitation Project since 1987 and for Mdina and Cottonera since 1997.

It is widely known that he has had major disagreements with his Minister, Ninu Zammit, over the past three years. It is now reported that he has moved to Heritage Malta.

Dr Bondin has always been interested in heritage protection. In the early 1980s he published a book about his views on Valletta. Called Ir-Rikostruzzjoni tal-Belt Valletta (The Reconstruction of the City Valletta), it was widely used by the Nationalist Party of which he was a candidate.

He was elected to Parliament between 1987 and 1992 and though he had a substantial increase in votes in 1992, he was not elected as a result of a smear campaign conducted from within the party itself, a campaign that was proved later to have been built on false premises.

Since 1992 he has dedicated himself completely to heritage protection. Under his leadership the three committees carried out a large number of projects, mainly restoration work such as those at St John’s Co-Cathedral and The Palace in Valletta.

He was also responsible for other major projects such as the floodlighting system in Valletta and the paving project in Mdina (where he clashed with Ninu Zammit over the choice of the material used and the fact that archaeological remains were all covered up).

Though he was known to have worked well with all ministers, including Labour minister Charles Buhagiar, he found it very hard to work with Ninu Zammit who gradually reduced his participation in the projects.

Mr Zammit also completely ignored the three Rehabilitation Committees that were the advisers on how the projects were to be run.

Recently, projects that have been planned by Ray Bondin and his team, such as the paving of Merchants Street, were not executed by VRP due to differences of opinion. The vote for the three projects this year was cut from Lm600,000 to Lm50,000.

Mr Bondin also felt Minister Zammit had cut him off from major projects such as the one that will see the restoration of part of the bastion walls with EU funding although he was initially involved in the preparation of this work.

When contacted, Mr Bondin confirmed that he had tendered his resignation and that he will be moving to Heritage Malta.

Asked to comment on his relationship with Ninu Zammit he simply stated that he could not, as a heritage conservationist, agree with the methodology of the minister and referred us to him.

At the start of the year Ray Bondin also criticised MEPA for granting permits in Valletta and across the harbour in Tigne stating that this could lead to the re-evaluation of Valletta’s status as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Dr Bondin is very well known on the international scene. He has been and is an official of major organisations such as ICCROM and ICOMOS. He has conducted a large number of evaluation and monitoring missions for UNESCO and other organisations, including some very difficult and diplomatic ones such as in Palestine. He has also formed part of UNESCO’s high-level delegations.

He has been a major speaker at a large number of international conferences and is a very well known personality in this field.

Minister Louis Galea, a few years back, stated in a public seminar “Ray Bondin has put heritage on the political agenda”.

Twenty years after starting the VRP project, Ray Bondin has been quietly and slowly relieved of his responsibilities.