President George Vella has personally intervened with Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia after receiving a barrage of public criticism on the shabby state of San Anton Gardens.
Sources close to the Office of the President told Times of Malta that an “upset” Vella called the minister and urged him to restore the gardens.
“The president has had enough of receiving complaints about the gardens.
“Although these gardens are essentially attached to the [presidential] palace, it is not his responsibility and he has flagged this to the ministry a number of times in the past. He is quite upset about it,” a source close to the president said.
The matter was cast into the national spotlight this week after social media posts showing the gardens in a state of disrepair went viral.
Valletta Cultural Agency head Jason Micallef uploaded two sets of photos earlier this week of the gardens showing broken benches, shattered windows and rugged pavings.
“San Anton Gardens abandoned. It’s difficult to believe it. The nicest and best public garden of its type in the country is in a state of almost total abandon. “A heart-wrenching sight of national shame,” he wrote.
In a subsequent post he clarified that maintenance of the gardens was not the president’s responsibility.
The posts generated hundreds of comments and were widely shared. This prompted the Office of the President to start replying to commenters, saying the gardens are not the head of state’s responsibility.
The president even had his staff erect signs in the gardens this week informing the public that the Environment Ministry is responsible for their upkeep.
Responding to questions, a spokesperson for the president did not comment on the communication between Vella and Farrugia.
Instead, he said the president’s staff had been forwarding the public’s concerns to “the ministry concerned”.
“Contrary to widespread public perception, San Anton Gardens do not fall under the responsibility of the Office of the President. The OPR has been forwarding complaints it receives on the said gardens to the ministry concerned,” the spokesman said.
Questions sent to the Environment Ministry on the matter earlier this week did not elicit a response.