A friend of mine is trying to save an historical fort on the tiny island of Malta. He has written the following letter to the European Union. I would like to help him publicise his cause as I think too many historical buildings are allowed to decay and disappear.
Added to that, as my friend points out, Malta relies on its tourist trade. Without attractions such as Fort Delimara that trade would decline to the detriment of the Maltese people.
Malta was a bastion against the evil of fascism in WWII and was awarded a medal for the bravery of all its inhabitants in the face of massive onslaughts from the Nazis. The free world owes Malta a great deal. Had it fallen during WWII the outcome could have been very different as this tiny island holds a strategic position in the Mediterranean. Had the Nazis conquered and controlled Malta, they would have controlled the entire Mediterranean.
I would ask those of you who value your freedom to support this cause - not by donating money, but by lobbying the EU for funds. It would not take long to write a letter similar to the 1 below and send it to the EU.
I thank you in advance for any help.
"Dear Sir or Madam:
I am moved to write this letter by an article in the “times of malta” dated 6 august 2009, the article was entitled, Delimara could soon be history “ and was compiled by Claudia Calleja.
The article details the erosion of the cliffs below fort Delimara, and the danger of the fort falling into the sea, if nothing is done, to stop the erosion.
To lose this fort would be an enormous failure on our part, as future generations have the right to enjoy this amazing piece of military architecture.
Malta is equally fortunate, and unfortunate to have such a large amount of historical structures, the burden of maintaining all of these site must not be put on the shoulders of this tiny country alone, Malta is after all, smaller than the isle of wight, and must rely on tourism as its main income source.
Therefore would it be to much to ask for the rest of the European union to help this tenacious country to preserve some of these site for the future, to help fund these sites would be a drop in the ocean for the general community, but would help improve the whole economy of Malta, as the increase in tourism revenue, from a revived and preserved fort, would be substancially felt in the immediate area. The delimara peninsula only has this one attraction, which if not preserved , will be lost forever.
Malta has had to prioritise, which of its sites to preserve, and which to leave to decay, why cant we all help Malta save most of them, after all, its due to Malta being strategically important, that she has all this wonderful architecture in the first place, invaders have come from east and west to impose their will, and try and change Malta, leaving behind a unique and special country, and a people that are struggling to cope with this architectural legacy, we all go to see these wonders, enjoy them , then leave , without a care for those that have to maintain and repair them, this has to be an enormous drain on this tiny country, who is also improving its basic infrastructure, as well as cope with decaying monuments that it doesn’t want to lose.
Surely we can help this great little country by donating enough funds to secure this fort, and start the restoration process, Malta is not the only country to have these type of forts, but they are all in a very tiny area, and there is a lot of them, and then there are buildings and temples that go back to Neolithic times, a burden for any country, but one that is only 19x 13 miles, it will kill their economy, or we will lose these treasures, we have to help them now, before its too late.
This is a plea for funds, and it comes from the heart, I am not Maltese, but I feel it is my duty also to preserve our heritage, I will gladly give my time effort and any spare money, but it would never be enough, it needs a lot more than I could ever give !
Sincerely,
Raymond Hinton"
Added to that, as my friend points out, Malta relies on its tourist trade. Without attractions such as Fort Delimara that trade would decline to the detriment of the Maltese people.
Malta was a bastion against the evil of fascism in WWII and was awarded a medal for the bravery of all its inhabitants in the face of massive onslaughts from the Nazis. The free world owes Malta a great deal. Had it fallen during WWII the outcome could have been very different as this tiny island holds a strategic position in the Mediterranean. Had the Nazis conquered and controlled Malta, they would have controlled the entire Mediterranean.
I would ask those of you who value your freedom to support this cause - not by donating money, but by lobbying the EU for funds. It would not take long to write a letter similar to the 1 below and send it to the EU.
I thank you in advance for any help.
"Dear Sir or Madam:
I am moved to write this letter by an article in the “times of malta” dated 6 august 2009, the article was entitled, Delimara could soon be history “ and was compiled by Claudia Calleja.
The article details the erosion of the cliffs below fort Delimara, and the danger of the fort falling into the sea, if nothing is done, to stop the erosion.
To lose this fort would be an enormous failure on our part, as future generations have the right to enjoy this amazing piece of military architecture.
Malta is equally fortunate, and unfortunate to have such a large amount of historical structures, the burden of maintaining all of these site must not be put on the shoulders of this tiny country alone, Malta is after all, smaller than the isle of wight, and must rely on tourism as its main income source.
Therefore would it be to much to ask for the rest of the European union to help this tenacious country to preserve some of these site for the future, to help fund these sites would be a drop in the ocean for the general community, but would help improve the whole economy of Malta, as the increase in tourism revenue, from a revived and preserved fort, would be substancially felt in the immediate area. The delimara peninsula only has this one attraction, which if not preserved , will be lost forever.
Malta has had to prioritise, which of its sites to preserve, and which to leave to decay, why cant we all help Malta save most of them, after all, its due to Malta being strategically important, that she has all this wonderful architecture in the first place, invaders have come from east and west to impose their will, and try and change Malta, leaving behind a unique and special country, and a people that are struggling to cope with this architectural legacy, we all go to see these wonders, enjoy them , then leave , without a care for those that have to maintain and repair them, this has to be an enormous drain on this tiny country, who is also improving its basic infrastructure, as well as cope with decaying monuments that it doesn’t want to lose.
Surely we can help this great little country by donating enough funds to secure this fort, and start the restoration process, Malta is not the only country to have these type of forts, but they are all in a very tiny area, and there is a lot of them, and then there are buildings and temples that go back to Neolithic times, a burden for any country, but one that is only 19x 13 miles, it will kill their economy, or we will lose these treasures, we have to help them now, before its too late.
This is a plea for funds, and it comes from the heart, I am not Maltese, but I feel it is my duty also to preserve our heritage, I will gladly give my time effort and any spare money, but it would never be enough, it needs a lot more than I could ever give !
Sincerely,
Raymond Hinton"
