Valletta, our capital city, is 443 years old today.

On 28 March, 1566, the foundation stone was laid by Grand Master Jean Parisot de la Valette on what was then a peninsula of shrubs and vegetation called Sceberras Hill. The building of the new city was deemed imperative for Malta to defend itself from attacks from the sea. A year earlier, the Maltese had withstood the assault from the Turkish Army in what became known as the Great Siege.

It is probable that, if Sceberras Hill was still full of trees and bushes today, no permit would be issued for the building of the city, with its grandiose bastions and gridlocked streets. There would be no permit for the palaces, churches and other buildings that make Valletta the unique city that it is today.

Environmentalists would have surely found some endemic plant or species that would push them to protest against the plans for building the city. If environmentalists existed in the 16th century and would have stopped the construction of Valletta, Malta and the world would have lost one of its gems.

But, that was nearly four and a half centuries ago, and the situation was completely different. Malta needed to defend itself, and it needed a fortified city to do so. The exigencies of the day required that the bastions surrounded an enclosed area for the people to take shelter in while at the same time do their best to keep foreign invaders away.

Today, Valletta’s needs are totally different. The years have taken their toll on the capital city. For too many years, especially since the end of the Second World War, Valletta has unfortunately been neglected, and it is only in more recent years, especially since the setting up of the local council, that something is being done to give it back its original splendour.

The government has many plans for the capital city but, so far, little has been done. Whether they will actually be implemented, how long they will take and the costs involved are issues of great importance. Like any other project that is presented, the proposals for Valletta have created controversy.

This, of course, includes the rebuilding of City Gate and the old opera house site. We have been discussing the matter for more than 60 years, and we are not any closer to a solution. And the more time passes, the more it will be difficult to come up with one.

The government must understand that there is no way that everybody will agree on any idea that is proposed for the old opera house site. There will always be some group or other who would want a building to house parliament instead of a theatre, or a multi-storey shopping complex instead of an arts centre. There will never be a national consensus on the issue.

Valletta has other problems apart from its entrance. For one thing, while capital cities elsewhere are alive 24 hours a day, Valletta still dies out once the shops close and the government workers leave their offices. People flock there when there are organised activities, but these are few and far between.

The presence of so many people in the city and the way many Maltese people unfortunately behave – coupled with the pollution caused by cars over the years – gives Valletta a dirty and shabby look too. The local council does its best to keep it as clean as possible, but it is frankly up to each and every one of us who goes to Valletta to contribute towards such cleanliness.

As Valletta celebrates its birthday today, we should all look within and see what we can do to give it a new lease of life it deserves.