Cultural events due to have been held in Valletta have been cancelled on orders of the superintendent of public health, the chairman of the Valletta Cultural Agency said on Thursday evening.

Writing in a Facebook post, Jason Micallef complained that despite all the sacrifices, despite a successful vaccination programme, and despite Malta having the lowest COVID-19 infection rate in the EU, events could still not be held.

The agency, he said had prepared a 'responsible' programme of events tailored to current circumstances.

But, he said, he had now been officially informed that until September, no permits would be issued for such events, anywhere in Malta.

While expressing amazement, Micallef said that all events planned for the summer were therefore being called off, for the second year. 

Earlier on Thursday, Times of Malta reported how plans for an open-air cinema event organised by the Valletta Cultural Agency had been hushed up.

The ‘Cinema City’ event was scheduled to take place between June 2 and 7 at Ġnien Laparelli, in Valletta, featuring films including The Matrix and The Iron Giant.

But a news conference by the government agency announcing the details on Tuesday was postponed at the last minute and a Facebook event encouraging people to attend has been taken offline.

Members of the public calling the Valletta Cultural Agency for more information were told the event “still needs to be confirmed with health authorities” and “if it is not confirmed then it will be postponed”.

On Thursday afternoon Prime Minister Robert Abela was asked about plans for a further easing of virus restrictions. He said talks were continuing with the health authorities.