Luqa Local Council said this morning that although it was unanimously opposed to the imposition of the controversial ‘Colonna Mediterranea’ monument, in no way did it intend to put into question the general artistic abilities of its creator.

However, it would have preferred to see in this monument’s place, a monument to one of the great protagonists in the history of Luqa, such as the versatile Mikelang Sapiano.

The monument, the council said, was commissioned by the government in 2006 without any consultation with the Luqa residents or council. The work, it said, went ahead without the necessary permit from the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

The council said it was not protesting about the monument because of the Pope’s forthcoming visit.

It had already previously written several times about the matter, first to former minister Jesmond Mugliett and in 2008 to Minister Austin Gatt. But its complaints fell on deaf ears.

It was due to this state of affairs that the council sought to address its concerns again to the central government, and to the parliamentary secretary presently in charge of local councils the Chris Said.

Now that the government declared that it was refusing to shift the monument, the council said it had no power to take further action to remove it since the central government had administrative responsibility for it.