Power restored to Ta' Braxia chapel after 110 years

Electricity has been restored to the chapel of Ta' Braxia Cemetery, in Pietà after 110 years as part of a restoration project by Friends of Ta' Braxia, an offshoot volunteer association of Din l-Art Helwa.

Speaking at the third annual general meeting of the volunteer association, executive director, Charles Gatt reported that extensive and painstaking work continued at the cemetery, its garden and the chapel, a 19th century architectural masterpiece by Maltese architect, Luigi Galizia.

Alas, he warned, the future of the association's activities in Ta' Braxia very much depended on the government's willingness to assist both through funds and manpower. So far, nearly all work has depended on the generosity of the friends of the association and donations by interested outsiders.

Mr Gatt said two major setbacks dealt a blow to the association's work, both involving government decisions.

The first was the withdrawal of a sum of money allocated by the Department of Health that would have funded urgent restoration of the windows and joists at the chapel and the second was the "disappointing" transfer of Karmenu Baldacchino and other caretakers to other sites.

"But despite the setbacks, much work has been done on the chapel this year, the main project being the extension of the electricity supply from the caretaker's block to the chapel," Mr Gatt said.

Carried out with the technical assistance of the Department of Health, the job took a number of weeks to complete as it involved the careful digging of some 250 metres of narrow channels between and behind graves and walls to bury the plastic conduit for the power cable, ensuring the least possible disturbance of the monuments.

In spite of the progress made, the association was concerned about the state of parts of the chapel since many of the upper leaded windows are missing, allowing in rainwater after a downpour.

The Health Department helped the volunteer association repair the high, loose stone wall separating the main cemetery from the Jewish section. Unfortunately, while removing a well-rooted creeper, the work suffered a serious setback as another part of the wall collapsed.

The association has called on the government to put the garden and its monuments under a more structured management plan and to review its administration.

In this project, the Friends of Ta' Braxia found the support of a number of volunteers of the British High Commission.

Volunteers Nita Tabone and Ken Valenzia are busy recording the inscriptions of all the tombstones in the cemetery. Disparity between the official plans and the grave locations and the need to obtain a translation of Cyrillic and Hebrew script continue to be obstacles they have to overcome.

Alan Keighley has set up a comprehensive database of all graves in the cemetery and Andy Welsh is coordinating all aspects of the Ta' Braxia project.

For further information call Din L-Art Helwa on 21220358 or e-mail Mr Gatt at cagatt@globalnet.mt.