Fort St Elmo and Marsamxett

Your issue of January 6 included an insert depicting the proposals for the regeneration and embellishment of Marsamxett Harbour. The leaflet states that it is an invitation for public debate.

I shall limit myself to the breakwater and Fort St Elmo. The design and orientation of breakwater arms is a very advanced and detailed science.

It is not a question of using rulers and drawing straight lines. Currents do not move in straight lines but go round promontories and cause eddies.

The draft design seems to have been copied from the Grand Harbour, but the Malta Maritime Authority (MMA) has ample experience with the easterly winds. Rinella, and to a certain extent, Kalkara, Creeks are not considered safe havens. Studies carried out by H.R. Wallingford Ltd, Oxfordshire, especially one in the mid-Seventies, had gone into detail about the shortcomings of the present breakwater. Therefore it would be sheer folly to copy the design. A breakwater costs millions of euros to build so it is essential that this is preceded by full computer and actual water model studies in engineering, environmental hydraulics and also in the management of water and its environment. Special care has to be taken about silting and lack of water circulation.

Fort St Elmo, with its unique position, is crying out for rehabilitation and development, so I agree with many of the suggestions made in this regard, but I have my reservations about the cultural aspect. The area currently housing the Police Academy can cater for specific folklore and cultural activities intended mainly for tourists but must be supported by a wider project.

A full scale approach should combine the five main aspects of the zone - cruise liners, a luxury hotel in Fort St Elmo, specialised cultural activities in the area of the Police Academy, a conference hotel in place of the Evans Buildings, and the Mediterranean Conference Centre. In fact it would be best to combine all five aspects under a single management/organisation so that the full facilities could be advertised and marketed internationally.

I am sure that the Tourism Authority is aware of the latest trend in hotel accommodation, namely the conversion of old prisons and forts into five-star hotels. Fort St Elmo is by far more attractive and has higher historical background than any of its possible competitors. Taken as a complex, that part of Valletta can become a centre in its own right.

With the creation of such a macro complex and the other suggestions as explained in the leaflet, it will inject new life in Valletta's outer areas. Let us hope that the public debate will be held openly, possibly even during a conference. I shall be more than ready to take part and offer my long experience in these matters.