The Cottonera experience

Over the past weeks I have had occasion to visit Cottonera over and over again. Being responsible for tourism as well as capital projects, including the Cottonera project, I enjoy making such visits as the various project components come on stream.

Government is doing its best to attract as many local visitors and tourists to Cottonera as possible. I firmly believe that foreigners and Maltese alike need to discover the Cottonera experience.

Limiting myself to examples from Vittoriosa, it is appropriate to ask readers what there is in common between the majestic Couvre Port entrance, the Victory Statue in the city's main square, the revival of the Collachio area where the Knights of Malta used to reside and where there are various impressive Auberges and palaces, the addition of new decorative street lamps in the same area, the new Cottonera marina, the demolition of the former bridge that used to lead to Fort St Angelo, the demolition of the Chinese building abutting into the same fort, the ongoing restoration works on the façade of the Inquisitor's Palace, the restored Caraffa stores, the total rehabilitation of the Palace of the Captain General of the Galleys, the setting up of the Home Front Museum at Couvre Porte, the cleaning up and reuse of 1.2 km of shelters dating back to World War Two and the paving of various historic zones in the area.

The reply to that question is that all these are components where Government has intervened directly to ensure that they come about and form part of the wider regeneration equation which is what our work is all about. Another reply to the same question is that all these components represent a few of the area's jewels.

One more reply is that in all cases, Government has been able to work closely together with the local council and through that council with the community who have taken on board the different initiatives that are being encouraged. One final reply is that all components represent investment in favour of enhancement and a better future just as they represent an ongoing commitment which shall not fail.

What is even more interesting is that the list of components given above is deliberately not exhaustive. I must immediately add the extension of the quay in Vittoriosa which will be built at a Government cost of a third of a million liri to facilitate the future berthing of super yachts in the same area.

Last Sunday I was in Vittoriosa to attend the re-enactment of the parade of the Grand Master and the Knights following the victory of the Great Siege in 1565. For any area to represent a living memory of over 400 years since that Siege was fought and won in our Grand Harbour is itself a historic milestone of which we are all proud.

The animators wore period costumes and brought to life that event along the quay, solemnly thanked and praised the Lord at the Church of St Lawrence, and then paraded through Victory Square. Hundreds of tourists joined in the colourful celebrations and pageantry.

The evening before, I was in the same area to follow various musical events that were staged together with performers from Italy as well as from the UK. The real climax of the evening was provided by young people from Vittoriosa who brilliantly interpreted extracts from their own former successful rendering of the rock opera We Will Rock You. The President of Malta joined for this part of the programme and later delivered a speech about the Cottonera experience to the large gathering that convened for the various festivities that were taking place.

The weekend festivities put up the Malta Tourism Authority packaged together no fewer than 35 different items. Birgufest, as the event is known, included street walkabouts, a choral concert, the Versatile Brass Ensemble, an evening of classical music at Fort St Angelo, folk dancing, floral, photographic and crafts exhibitions, as well as dghajsa trips which have been reintroduced in the Grand Harbour area on the MTA's initiative.

Walking around the area together with the mayor of Vittoriosa, the indefatigable John Boxall, I could admire how the various clubs that partake to the city were encouraged to organise themselves food stalls, souvenir outlets, bars and other retail points which in their own way brought the area to life and provided a reasonable cash flow for the associations that belong to this city.

It is my wish that more people discover Cottonera as they make it a point to visit the Auberges, the palaces, the ancient walls, the regeneration project and the new marina. In this process a number of bars as well as a couple of eating places have sprung up in Cottonera and these spots are becoming very popular with the visitors.

Over the other weekend, many Maltese and foreigners made it to Cottonera for their first (but not last) time ever because of another event unfolding in the area. A programme funded by the European Union, Culture 2000, made possible a unique theatrical event that brought together the "Three Islands' Project" with actors and musicians from Malta, Cyprus and Cornwall performing A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.

Hats off to all involved. Our own St James Cavalier, the Cyprus national theatre organisation as well as the British drama group Kneehigh availed themselves of EU funding to bring together a production that made full use such areas as It-Toqba in Vittoriosa that one would not have hitherto associated with theatrical happenings.

In many ways, this production became a community event, not only because the city's residents could attend a special night without any charge, and other nights at a special rate, but also because the community gave its full support to make the event come to life.

Malta's folk band Etnika as well as Il-Budaj were also roped in.

Whether it was a question of following the performers from one level of the set to another as they intermingled with the audience, interacting with them during the Carnival break when the audience could also taste Cypriot, Maltese or British delights, admiring the pilgrims walk down the bastions, or of course follow the production's climax when the man with enormous wings (Paul Portelli) flies off over the Grand Harbour, this was another Cottonera experience not to be missed.

As performers and the audience went up and down the steps leading to Sally Port, I could not help remembering when that area was full of debris and other waste. It took a major clean up and rehabilitation job in its own right and last weekend's production paid a fitting tribute to another job well carried out in Cottonera.

Artistic director Bill Mitchell summed it up brilliantly when he told the Press that if Vittoriosa was not working with the entire team, it would have been absolutely impossible. Performers from the three countries worked, lived, ate there. They became part of the community and that is how this theatrical piece of magic came about.

Only a few days before the cultural events taking place in Cottonera the other weekend, I was in the same area to see the refurbishing works that have been carried out on Caraffa Stores built by Grand Master Caraffa in 1689. Truckloads of rubbish were cleared from this site, partitions and all types of graffiti removed. The place had become a refuge for different illicit activities as well as drug abuse. The building has been restored to its pristine glory and Cottonera Waterfront Group will be considering proposals for the best use that can be made of it, preferably on a holistic basis.

On the same visit, I had occasion to see the block of 101 apartments that has been completed in the area. Government had intervened to limit the volume of this building in order to ensure that the proper perspectives of the area are kept in view. These apartments enjoy a breathtaking view of Grand Harbour, with Valletta on one side and Kalkara Creek on the other.

The general public will enjoy a belvedere and public garden that will be created on the roof of the apartment building, apart from the ability to walk round the whole seafront from the Kalkara side to the Senglea side as a result of a new walkway that has been provided round the apartments. Lm14 million have already gone into the Cottonera project, and that's not the end of the story yet!

The Cottonera experience daily assumes added significance - it's happening and I would encourage one and all to live it in person by going there.

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