Reviving Valletta

Valletta is a capital of world records. It is perhaps the only European city that still displays a conspicuous and sizeable war ruin, the Royal Opera House. It is a city that boasts exceptional lengthy massive walls that surround it. It is also one of the most neglected and betrayed cities.

In an effort to revive our capital, the Labour government declared Valletta in 1998 the European City of Culture. This declaration was not an empty statement like the ones we hear about so often nowadays but was backed by a number of projects aimed to revive and restore our capital. The most important project was the paving of Republic Street. Central to the success of this project was the synergy generated by a number of public and private entities, experts in specific fields and Italian master tile layers. The end result was a project completed in record time. Since then, no other project comparable in size and success has been attempted in Valletta.

The ability to make people and entities work together does not seem to be the Nationalist administration's forte. The fragmentation of responsibilities in the face of the massive challenges posed by Valletta has derailed any progress. For its small size, Malta now has a record number of publicly funded entities involved in restoration. Millions of liri are spent to fund these entities which, rarely if ever, work together, indeed they seem to be set against each other and embroiled in internal conflicts.

Above these power struggles with political overtones is the obvious fact that most of the artistic and historical heritage of the city is expressed in stone. Any visitor to Valletta will realise that local stone has been the predominant material used for the numerous façades of palaces, churches, ancient houses and fortifications. Yet, the obvious seems to have eluded the present government to the point that the decay of stone in façades and fortifications has become one of the most pressing problems facing Valletta. This is a problem related to the nature of local stone which is susceptible to rapid weathering, aggravated by the formation of black crust, a hideous and damaging coating of black soot linked to air pollution. The Labour government of the 1970s had taken simple but effective steps to tackle this problem by introducing traffic restrictions in Valletta. The result was a considerable decrease in the formation of black crust on façades.

The problems of decay remain and continue to deface our capital city. These problems have been aggravated by inadequate restoration methods. The use of untested and experimental restoration methods on prominent façades by foreign restorers and the replacement of damaged stone with poor quality stone which decays in just a few years will have enduring damaging effects. This is in contrast with the admirable use of best quality local stone in the time of the Knights and its use for decorative purposes as seen in the Palace portico. Quick-fix solutions, such as cladding of façades as in Pinto stores, without attention given to the nature of the original stone used in the time of the Knights may offer well-timed political advantage but leave the original buildings permanently scared with stone not intended by the original builders.

Despite the immensity of the problem, it is surprising that the Malta Centre for Restoration has not seriously considered the problem of stone decay and stone quality. It seems that rather than facing to these challenges, Malta's national centre for restoration remains paralysed by mismanagement coupled with internal and external conflict, resulting in a continual stream of departures and resignations by disgruntled specialists and qualified personnel.

Incompetent "restoration" has damaged not only exterior but also the interior parts of important buildings in Valletta. The most notable of these has been the disastrous application of oil-based paint on the lower parts of the interior of St John's co-cathedral which has greatly aggravated the deterioration of stone by rising dampness and salt, causing permanent damage in sculptured sections which consequently drop off.

Such tragically inflicted damage shows that the sad fate of some of our finest artistic treasures that bear a universal value is now captive to incompetent decision-making resulting from the PN administration's provincial mentality. It seems that now the most important qualification needed for persons filling posts of responsibility in restoration is total loyalty to the PN inner circle. This is inflicting enduring damage on Valletta.

Labour offers a new approach to Valletta's problems both at the material and social levels. Expert restoration, cleaning of façades and paving of streets which is reminiscent of past artisanship and design can revive those elements that make Valletta unique and worth visiting. We cannot afford to repeat past mistakes and build or transform in a style that is alien to Valletta, as happened with City Gate.

Meanwhile, the government's reluctant social policy leaves little chance for improvement of social conditions in Valletta which could be instrumental in reviving and restoring large tracts of the city under supervised private initiative.

Labour's slogan, Xoghol, Harsien, Dinjità (Work, protection, dignity) encompasses the drive needed to revive Valletta and to make it work as the country's capital city while its artistic heritage is protected and its dignity restored.

Mr Abela is the Labour Party's spokesman for education, youth and culture.