SPEECH BY THE HON FRANCIS ZAMMIT DIMECH, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, AT SEMINAR ON FORTS AND FORTIFICATIONS AND HISTORICAL BUILDINGS - ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI CULTURA, VALLETTA

I would like to welcome you all to share my thoughts on the current situation of the ambitious "Forts, Fortifications, and Historical Buildings" project which the Restoration Unit within the Works Division, Ministry for the Environment, has embarked on. This project is being carried in close collaboration with a number of specialists in the various fields of restoration from the Universit'? Studiorum di Bologna.

The importance of today's occasion is twofold. Firstly, because we will be underlining what has been achieved during the first two years of the Project, since the signing of the Collaboration Agreement in 1998, which work has been carried out thanks to financing under the Fourth Italo-Maltese Financial Protocol. Secondly, because we will be projecting what our plans are for the next three years, which works are not only intended to consolidate all that has been implemented to date, but will ambitiously try to tackle issues which have long been on our agenda but which never took off. In particular I am referring to the problems of the Vilhena Palace and underlying bastions in Mdina, and to a piano di recupero for Valletta. These new initiatives will only be made possible through funding which the Italian Government is once again generously expected to make as part of the Fifth Financial Protocol. I would like to anticipate my heartfelt thanks to the Italian Government, because it is only through such assistance that we are managing to carry out initiatives of such strong cultural content.

I will leave it mainly to this morning's speakers to delve in the detail of the different aspects of the project. I would, however, like to make some salient points. Had I to look back and assess the work carried out to date, I have one major regret, that of not having put a major effort in promoting what has been done. I want to assure you that the work over the last two years never ceased. The background work is however always the toughest and least visible.

It might have been easier had we to decide and execute a few restoration projects with the funds allocated through the Protocol. The primary objective of this collaboration project has however always gone beyond this, as the Works Division would not have reaped a long-term benefit from such an approach. On the contrary, the main aim of the agreement, as indeed is the spirit of the Italo-Maltese Protocol, has been the setting up of a dedicated technical structure and its provision with the methodological and operational knowledge and equipment necessary for the programming and managing of Forts, Fortifications and Historic Buildings on a long term basis. This goal, I am pleased to say, has been achieved.

The Restoration Unit has grown considerably over these two years, and today it boasts of an interdisciplinary team of restoration architects, a Superintendent of Fortifications, an archaeologist, a team of draughtsmen and surveyors equipped with the latest technology hardware and software who are being trained to carry out specialized restoration drawings. There is, moreover, a pool of technical staff and workmen with whom the Unit is carrying out various restoration projects. The Unit also boasts of a GIS system on which a database of all restoration work being carried out is being kept. This expansion was made possible mainly through the assistance of the professional staff at the University of Bologna who have assisted in the training of our staff in various aspects relating to restoration.

The aerial survey for the production of detailed survey sheets, at a scale of 1:500 of the fortifications system has also been a very important initiative. This tool is indispensable for the better understanding of the fortifications and vital for the correct execution of restoration projects. Such detailed plans are a first for Malta, since the existing large-scale cartography was of 1:1000. To date the survey sheets of Mdina, Valletta and Floriana have already been executed. It is intended to continue with this project over the coming three years, to cover also the Cottonera fortifications and the Citadel in Gozo. I will leave it to Prof. Bitelli to better explain the importance of such cartography.

With protocol funds it has also been possible to better equip our staff for maintenance works of the fortification ramparts. A group of workers who up to some time ago used to carry out cleaning of the ramparts by abseiling down the walls are now equipped with two lightweight modular fully-automatic suspended platforms. This is enabling them to carry out work in a much more professional manner. Until this equipment was purchased, it was only possible to remove vegetation. Now the ramparts are also being pointed. We have two such platforms operating in Floriana/Valletta and Cottonera.

Il fiore all'occhiello of the whole project is undoubtedly the restoration of the church of Santa. Caterina d'Italia. The restoration being carried out is of the highest level. But of more importance is the way in which it is being carried out. A group of ten Restoration Unit workers, who had previously undergone a short training course in stone restoration at the Venice European Centre for the Skills of Architectural Conservation San Servolo, are assisting the Italian restorers who were awarded the tender, Iteras Spa. This has been a success story, and our workers have shown great zeal and initiative. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to meet again in the very near future to inaugurate the completed works of the exterior of the Church of Santa Caterina, which is now nearing completion.

We look at the future with optimism since we can rely on a small group of workers with first-hand training in restoration skills with whom the Restoration Unit can carry out restoration jobs in the future. This project has also been important because it has given the thrust necessary for the initiation of a close collaboration between the Restoration Unit and the Malta Centre of Restoration in Bighi, another project funded by the Fourth Italo-Maltese Financial Protocol.

I will now leave it to the various speakers to delve into more detail of the project's past and prospected future.