Valletta ditch restoration is back on drawing board

The Valletta ditch project is being resurrected, with the government finalising plans to embellish this eyesore of an area. “The intention is to restore City Gate bridge, the adjacent old railway bridge and landscape the area,” an Infrastructure Ministry spokeswoman told the Times of Malta, without giving details of the plans. “Tenders will be published once the planning process is concluded,” she said. In July 2013, the newly elected Labour administration shelved plans to turn this prominent part of the capital into a garden, citing lack of funds. Designed by world renowned architect Renzo Piano, it was to be an integral part of the Valletta City Gate project, which was completed last May with the inauguration of the new Parliament building. The ministry said yesterday that the ditch embellishment project was no longer in the hands of Mr Piano’s architecture firm. “It is to be noted that Renzo Piano Building Workshop is being consulted on the way forward, notwithstanding the fact that the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation [responsible to oversee the completion of works] is engaging local architects,” the ministry said. The spokeswoman added that GHRC was handling all the...