The Fondazzjoni Ulied Hal-Qormi held a seminar, one of its first activities, last Friday at the Razzett l-Antik (The old farmhouse) in Qormi to promote the exchange of ideas on how to regenerate the town.
Almost all the speakers agreed that Qormi badly needs regeneration: the rapid development of past years has left it very much surrounded and invaded by industry. Forty per cent of all warehouses in Malta are in or around Qormi, thus increasing the number of haulage trucks on the roads.
On the other hand, there are no restaurants in the town, nor recreational or entertainment venues so it has become a mainly residential town, with over 800 one-person households and stress on the streets.
Qormi has indeed changed, Lino Spiteri, well-known former minister and MP, said. And to regenerate it must change again. While today’s young people from Qormi are going to university and undertaking other tertiary education, there is ample scope for software development companies and financial services, given the proximity to MFSA in Attard.
The other equally famous son of Qormi, John Dalli, now Commissioner-designate, who was expected to speak, had international commitments. Dr Joe Bugeja, who spoke in his stead, highlighted facts and figures from NSO statistics regarding Qormi.
Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, MP, one of the founder-members of the foundation, and its CEO, pointed out at the way the town has been split apart by the bypasses going through it. She added that there are old houses in the town that could be restored.
With Mr Spiteri agreeing with her, two old and historical houses were identified – the old house, which belonged to Maltese hero Slaw (Stanislaw) Gatt, and the one built by the knights in St Francis Square that was later turned into a tenement (kerrejja). One of its balconies collapsed and was replaced with aluminium and the other is on the verge of falling down. Mr Spiteri suggested that one of them could be turned into a museum of the Maltese rebellion against the Napoleonic occupation.
Dr Coleiro Preca, and later members of the audience including the mayor, Jesmond Aquilina, suggested holding tourist trails in the locality, possibly providing accommodation for those tourists who want to spend some days in a typical old Maltese village.
As I was leaving, I noticed that the Razzett (for there is a restaurant in Qormi after all) had a number of tourists with a guide busy explaining facts about Maltese cuisine to them.
Mr Aquilina and other speakers such as Carmelo Debono (the Maypole Bakery owner) praised the initiatives of the young people of the locality, such as those who organise the wine festival and the Casal Fornaro event. The local council, through its Youth Council, is helping young people set up a project which, if chosen, will be given e7,500 of EU funds and e2,500 from the council. If they are not chosen, they will be given every encouragement to obtain the funds themselves and carry out the project just the same.