Din l-Art Ħelwa appeals to the public for any information about the extensive damage caused recently to the Red Tower, Mellieha, and asks those who caused it, whether by accident or by design, to come forward to cover the costs so the heritage organization can urgently repair the damage caused.

It has been reported that a passerby, seeing the state of collapse of the stairs at the newly restored tower, duly informed the police who immediately called volunteers of Din l-Art Ħelwa.  The tower is currently closed due to health authority restrictions governing museums and sites but the damage has left the access in a dangerous state.

The Red Tower has just recently undergone extensive renovation.  Now with harshly reduced income due to the pandemic, Din l-Art Ħelwa is asking for donations to make the access stairs safe again and also put right other damage caused at other sites.

‘It is a real shame,’ said the organization, ‘that after all our hard work, the tower has been damaged by the very people it was built to defend.  We hope that the public can come forward so funds are found for its repair.  This is only one manifestation of the damage sustained by heritage sites from wanton or ignorant acts.  The continual work of Din l-Art Ħelwa to maintain its historic properties in pristine order comes with a huge cost and funds are hard to come by during these times when visitor numbers are nil.  There is also a huge amount of illegal dumping of waste carried out close to our sites which is now totally out of control.  We appeal to the authorities to tighten up on monitoring and enforcement to prevent such uncivil behaviour which shows such disrespect to our heritage and destroys our countryside’.

To discover Din l-Art Ħelwa heritage sites and to assist with donations please visit: https://dinlarthelwa.org/product/donation/

Simone Mizzi

Din l-Art Ħelwa