"I like to describe Valletta as a diamond necklace with a rusty chain," Valletta mayor Alexiei Dingli holistically describes the current state of the capital city.
"The Palaces are being restored, yet in between we have dangerous pavements. When the accessibility scheme was open, we had asked for an accessibility audit for the entire city to be conducted. Keep in mind that 450 years ago, the architects did not plan for accessibility. Considering that V18 is round the corner and we expect a lot of people to visit us, a substantial number of these will have accessibility issues. Ironically, we were not given the funds!"
But through government intervention, a Committee is currently being setup at GHRC to improve coordination between different entities involved, including the local council.
Work, he said, will include arranging the pavements around Valletta, improving lighting especially in Republic Street, and assisting the council in the cleanup of the city. This work, he said, is expected to begin before the end of the year.
The council is also in the process of resurfacing 10 roads. By doing so, 90% of the roads in the city would have been resurfaced in a span of eight years. The tendering process is currently open to bidders.
The Mayor described the major ongoing projects leading up to V18, and said one of the biggest is the Museum of Fine Arts: "It's important because for the first time ever, community curatorship is an integral part of this project. So the idea is not to create a new space distant from the local community but to integrate the local community in the new space. It is important that the people of Valletta feel that the museum is theirs as well. The St John's Co-Cathedral project is another, but Mayor Dingli said the council is not informed of what is happening there.
"We sent the foundation a message asking them to update the council, but we haven't heard anything. The Cathedral is right in the city centre, and construction there is a big problem that will affect many people."
The Valletta Strategy, he explained, will not only lead up to V18. Some projects, such as the much needed social housing upgrade, would probably not be concluded by then but it is important that they start, he said.
The Council, Professor Dingli explained, will be taking steps to reduce the amount of garbage being dumped in Malta's capital. The problem, he explained, is that people are throwing rubbish around skips rather than inside them, and some businesses are abusing when they are meant to take care of their own garbage.
He says, "Skips are becoming mini-dump sites. Last week, we began removing skips from Valletta and are moving to a door-to-door collection system. On certain days, collection will even occur twice a day."
Enforcement will also rise, he said, adding that wardens will be employed to look out for dumping. The first week will be used to educate the people, with wardens handing out warnings, but after the first week, fines will begin to be handed out.
Fines for dumping can reach around € 5,000, he explained.
Fixing up the residential areas is mentioned in the Valletta Strategy, he said, adding that this is definitely a positive for residents.
He made reference to the broken glass theory by the former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani. "If a house has a broken window, chances are they will keep on breaking the other windows and those within the vicinity. If you let an area go, it will continue to get worse. The environment defines how people react to the city so it is our mission to improve that environment because we care for the wellbeing of our citizens".
Asked for his recommendations to attract more tourists to areas other than the commercial centre, he mentioned that certain events should be spread out. As an example, he mentioned the recent use of Fort St Elmo, and Notte Bianca events being held from the Fort all the way to Castille. He did say, however, that one needs to be careful to ensure that events held in other parts do not annoy residents. "It's all about striking the right balance".
He also spoke about buskers, whose presence in Valletta has increased over the past few years. Professor Dingli explained that there are two kinds, performance based buskers, and crafts based buskers, such as those who sell items in front of the law courts.
With regard to performance based-buskers, Mayor Dingli mentioned that he would like to attract more, especially for V18. "In the past I also attempted to entice students from the School of Performing Arts at the University of Malta to come and show off their talents in Valletta. The problem seems to be that there isn't a busking culture here in Malta because some of them feel they are begging, in fact the majority in Valletta are foreigners".
"As for the crafts based buskers, I would like to organise them. Take the ones in front of the law courts, having so many in such a small space creates an eyesore. We want them to be regularised. Their problem is that they do not require council permission, but rather only require permission from the Trades Department, something which we've been trying to change for the past years".
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/2bYigWp
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