Wanted: Superintendent for Cultural Heritage

The Hilton in Paceville will expand again. This article in the Times tells us that the mammoth hotel will now reach to the area affectionately known to people of my generation as "the beach" - or better as the area 'tan-namrati' (of the lovers) at the bottom of the road that starts with the Alley, Coconut and Jimmy's and ends with the roundabout where you can also eat Maltese food courtesy of the ANR chef. The "scheduled houses" in the article are four beautiful colonial houses which one can assume are "scheduled" to be untouched. On the other hand a defensive fortification wall dating from around 1770 (yes Paceville has its old buildings too) is not so lucky... read here:

"Another concern was that the fortification wall near the waterfront dating back to about 1770 would be dwarfed by the new building. Mepa sought the opinion of the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage which did not reply to the authority's letter within the stipulated time frame. The lack of a reply was taken to mean no objection by the Superintendence."

Someone please tell me I am dreaming.

..............

Meanwhile the Cheap'N'Cheerful Saga continues. After Daphne wrote very well about the impossibility of Maltese ever enjoying cheap flights, Minister Zammit Dimech speaking in his capacity as Minister continues to defend MIA (up for further privatisation) but has come up with some plan. The nagging and unashamed protection of Air Malta still finds its way into this new report. Easyjet have become the good boys who obey while Ryanair are still the renegades. Read with care but do not lose the plot. At the end of the day this is meant to be an agreement for the consumers. In the meantime a family of four still pays Lm200 in charges & taxes for any flights out of Malta.

Who says we don't do cheap flights?