What a real mess

This was always going to be a disaster.

When I first visited Malta 35+ years ago, the Crafts Village was a place of great interest and history. OK parts were grotty and maintenance was non-existent. What should have happened is all the properties to have been upgraded but still showing the wartime Nissen huts while the surround was beautifully maintained and new workshops added as and where required.

As it stands, it is a memorial to incompetence and, I’m afraid to say, not the only disaster as far as Malta is concerned. Trouble is, the history is gone forever and the new site is not really worth a long visit, sadly.

There are some wonderful artisans still there and I wonder just how some of them have survived over the years while the area was and still is a building site which, in typical Maltese style, always seems void of any work being carried out on unfinished parts.

I miss the old site, its quirkiness (but not its weeds and rough surfaces!) and preserved history, which this failed plan has wiped out in one long-winded stroke. That was a tourist attraction in itself. 

Ta’ Qali Crafts Village has been allowed to deteriorate over the past years. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Tourists have lost a gem while many artisans have not returned and, now, I suspect, unlikely to.

Those who stuck with it deserve a medal and free use for at least five years.

It will always be a failed white elephant, whereas, had it been tidied and modernised, it could have been the pride of Malta craft sites.

A great opportunity lost. 

Such a shame.

Brian Simmons – Kent, England

Big loss to culture and arts

The passing away of Dominic Cutajar is a sad day for those active in the field of cultural heritage and the arts in Malta. He was curator first at the St John’s Co Cathedral museum and then at Fine Arts. He was a great scholar and was very modest in how he presented himself. 

I knew him closely because, when I took over the projects in Valletta in 1987, he was influential in all that I did. He was particularly attentive to the cathedral and we collaborated in many projects together, also with his successor, Joe Galea Naudi. When I told him I wanted to do the most difficult wall painting with help I had from abroad, it was he who suggested the Paladini chapel at the palace, my most difficult project, and, then, the Perez d’ Aleccio painting, also at the palace. Sadly, I could only do 60 per cent of this project before I left my position in 2007.

Ray Bondin – Għajnsielem

Costly parking

Last week, needed to buy a long broomstick costing €1.40, which I saw at a huge and very well-equipped establishment in Mrieħel.The parking space was all taken up, so I decided to park across the road. It took me only eight minutes to purchase the stick and went back to my car. Surprise, surprise, the cost of using this car park was €2, for just eight minutes. There should be a notice board featuring the charges to enlighten all those who enter. I feel €2 for eight minutes is too much. We are talking of one Malta lira of the past.

This is another way of making money fast.

Paul Banavage – Pembroke

E-scooters incentive

As users of e-scooters book these through an app, can the app be used to identify those badly parked and offer those wanting to hire one an incentive to use them, thereby helping quickly to remove badly parked e-scooters so they create less inconvenience?

Just an idea, thinking outside the traditional box.

Jim Wightman – St Julian’s

Filming facilities

The year 1987 saw the release of The Untouchables. May I suggest our film commissioner release a new version under the same title, only this time recruiting our best-known Maltese supernatural CEO & Co?

Joseph Scicluna – St Julian’s