From Dr R. Bondin

I have written about the negative changes taking place in our capital city for years but it is the first time that Dr Austin Gatt, who does not mince his words, has made the same arguments in the seminar that was reported in last Sunday’s edition. The rest was the same old arguments we have heard over the years.

Dr Gatt confirmed the arguments I made over the years: Valletta’s skyline is changing fast, its population is rapidly decreasing, there is a need for massive investment, it is dirty, there is complete lack of enforcement, some shops do as they please, major projects have remained on the drawing board, the traffic problem has not been solved and it is very difficult to attract new residents. It would be futile for me to state how many times I made the same arguments and being told, as in a letter in an English daily by the President of the Valletta Alive Foundation, that I am being negative and that in reality Valletta is a showcase.

How many times have I argued that one of the few things that could be done was to increase cultural events, to have a coordination body to organise such events involving all the sites (and not only the theatres and museums but also some of the important buildings that are excellent venues). In 1987, that is 21 years ago, I insisted that the Opera House site should be rebuilt as our Parliament: expenses must have increased at least by four times since then. Yes, we need a Cultural Centre and yes, we had plans to transform Fort St Elmo into such a centre.

As is to be expected, architects talk about introducing new buildings and allowing changes and compare Valletta to some large cities in Europe. How can you compare Valletta in this way? Valletta cannot have the changes that other cities have had because of its size but also because we requested and got recognition from UNESCO for the WHOLE city to be put on the World Heritage List. Malta, as a signatory to the World Heritage Convention, has obligations it is not keeping. All the extra floors we have put everywhere, the swimming pools on roofs, the transformation of our historic buildings with brick intermediate floors, the change of materials and colours, the ruin of the landscape values of Valletta: all these are in violation of UNESCO rules.

Valletta does need a Regeneration Agency. There are published Memos about this, most through EU funding. Some of the other ideas mentioned have been talked about endless times. We have heard it all before. In the meantime Valletta’s decline continues. It has become a City built by Gentleman for Businessman. We see Valletta as a cash cow we can milk and give nothing back to it. We surround it with high-rise flats, which are sold at massive profit due to them having “a view of Valletta”, while investment in Valletta goes down and down.

I have always stated that it was becoming more and more difficult to live in Valletta but no one listened, pleased with some one off cultural events (which are good but certainly not enough) and because some foreign residents have bought houses there. I have always stated that the dangerous population level of 6,500 voters should set off red lights. We have already gone below this threshold.

In the meantime people who genuinely wanted to help in the regeneration of Valletta have been marginalized. So much for commitment.

Ray Bondin