On the morning of Friday, September 3, the small, quaint, though confining St George’s Square in Victoria, its yet unfinished flagstone flooring marred by numerous tyre marks, long-dried chewing gum and various other stains, was the setting for a scene of utter chaos reminiscent of one of those doomsday cum end-of-the-world movies.

The chaos must have also raised questions about St George’s dragon-slaying powers!

There, no fewer than three contractors whose noisy, noxious fume-belching machinery added to a cacophony of sound as they went head-to-head with the pealing of the bells of the square’s imposing basilica, were conducting operations simultaneously.

At a given time, the square was packed with no fewer than three 10-tonne trucks, a one-tonner, a full-size SUV and a van and two pick-up trucks all haphazardly dispersed throughout the square’s limited space.

A rubble-collecting, dust-stirring mechanical shovel, along with a bucket-lift both of whose engines were in continuous operation, rounded off this scene straight out of Dante’s inferno.

Definitely not a good morning for coffee and pastizzi!