Care for richness and splendour of heritage

The Cultural Heritage Act 2002 has set in motion the realisation of myriad dreams. The legal structure is there. Now it is presumed that there is the stage of identification of suitable personnel at professional, executive, administrative and lesser, albeit important ranks of middle management in the organigram of the entities. Or is it rather a search for and training of personnel for the relative posts?

The members of the advisory and executive entities, like superintendents, the operating agency better known as Heritage Malta, the Cultural Heritage Fund and the Committee of Guarantee have been nominated by the Minister of Education. That is all fair and good. What is obviously needed is the executive corps. As far as the Centre for Restoration is concerned the needed complement is already in place. They are fully operative.

Having said all this, it is pertinent to point out that certain sites and buildings are in urgent need of attention. Admittedly there are other major sites of greater importance that should be higher than others in the priority list. Still, as the old adage goes: "Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves."

Insofar as the training period is concerned, work on the minor sites will serve the purpose of gaining experience necessary for the bigger tasks of preservation, conservation and restoration.

A place that comes readily to mind because it is so easily accessible is the old Customs House at Pietà. There is much confused thinking about the conservation, restoration and rehabilitation. Or rather the lack of consideration or proper rehabilitation.

To start off with, the insistence of calling the "Verandah" a boathouse defeats the very purpose and reason for taking care of this valuable historic site. This, apart from the fact that the occupiers have absolutely no right to be there - they are squatters. Moreover, the place looks anything but a boathouse. It is a sort of shanty shabby dilapidated warehouse complete with uncontrolled contrasts.

It may be that the persons responsible for the misnomer are not fully aware of the historical importance of the old Customs House. In the halcyon days before the Second World War it was quite busy for the entry of all sorts of merchandise. Wheat in bulk, barrels of wine, cattle, horses and donkeys were among such merchandise. In the two decades or so before the war, when Customs' work was transferred to the Valletta Marina, the two offices at the south end of the verandah were used by a group of sea Scouts. An unofficial patron was Lord Louis Mountbatten, who used to live with his family at the top of Guardamangia Hill. The verandah was used as the station of the Kingfisher - the name of the cabin cruiser used by Lord and Lady Moutbatten in housing, among others the Prince of Wales, Prince George, later Duke of Kent, and King Alfonso of Spain.

Years later during the war the verandah was again used as a transhipment base for the flotillas preparing for the invasion of Sicily.

In the years when Prince Philip was stationed in Malta as an officer of the Mediterranean fleet, his royal fiancée, the Princess Elisabeth, used the verandah to bid him good day and welcome back from his ship.

To think that, according to a persistent rumour, the old Customs House is earmarked for being turned into a restaurant... At least it has not been targeted for ignominy of being part of a fast food chain. That would be the supreme to this place of historic connections long before Pietà and Guardamangia developed into the sizable seaside village it is nowadays.

A place of even greater importance was the HFC - Harbour Fire Control - post. It played its part in the glorious victory of the Royal Malta Artillery Coast Regiment against the Italian E Boat Attack on Grand Harbour at dawn on July 26, 1941. This observation post was situated on top of Fort St Elmo next to the lighthouse. It was from this post that Colonel Ferro directed the fire of the coast batteries of Elmo and Ricasoli. It was a six-minute battle that annihilated the Italian E Boat force.

The concrete construction known as HFC post deserves to be restored and rehabilitated with the original equipment. It should be included in a visit to Upper Fort St Elmo after the cleaning and restoration of gunposts Nos 1, 2 and 3 and the reclamation of No 4 gunpost, now used as a snack bar. Shame on whoever decided its present fate.

What a fall is there in Upper St Elmo from its richness and splendour of expression. At least the central part of the fort has been professionally restored and is being used honourably as the Police Academy.

The sister paper The Times last week pointed out as an outrage to Malta's heritage the present state of Fort St Angelo. This jewel in the crown of Grand Harbour's fortifications presents two diametrically opposed scenarios. The upper part has been beautifully restored by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. It is used as the Accademia Melitensae under the charge of the Knight Resident Fra John Edward Critien.

The lower part, which in effect is much larger, is in a shambles. A shameful sight indeed as a result of years of neglect misuse and vandalism.

Perhaps Heritage Malta will put it very high on its priority list of protection, conservation, restoration and in part reconstruction.

Who knows, perhaps a deal might be negotiated between the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John and the Republic of Malta to restore this jewel to its glorious lustre. That dream would, if realised, honour all the entities set up under and by the Cultural Heritage Act 2002.