Approach to capital gets major facelift

The approach to our magnificent capital city, Valletta, has been enhanced recently thanks to a major facelift - the restoration of the first gate to the city, Portes des Bombes. In a six-month project, undertaken by the Restoration Unit of the Ministry of Resources and Infrastructure, layers of soot and grime accumulated over the past three centuries were removed so that the Baroque stonework now shines in all its original splendour. Some 70 restoration projects have been undertaken by the unit in the last four years, and about 50 others are in hand. Almost Lm9 million have been spent so far. The Portes de Bombes restoration has been complemented with the installation of flower-beds and palm trees, lit up at night, all the way from Blata l-Bajda - as seen in these aerial photographs by Austin Tufigno - thanks to the first private-public partnership project. The private part of the project has been entrusted to the Environment Landscapes Consortium made up of Peter Calamatta's Garden Shop Nursery, Wigi Micallef Green Suppliers, Polidano Group (Caqnu) and Dr Adrian Zammit's Garden Centre, which is now embellishing centre strips and roundabouts all over the island.