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30 October, 2009
An open letter to the European parliament
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

And the reply so far :-

DIRECTORATE-GENERAL

REGIONAL POLICY

Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain

H e a d 0 , U n i l 1ł2n .n0f5l .i2l 01 1! l0.*.0f 0t n4W02) 0

Brussels,

Ref. : Your e-mail of 11 February 2010

Dear Mr. Hinton

I would like to thank you for sharing with President Barroso, on whose behalf I am

replying, your concerns regarding the preservation of historical artefacts in Malta. I fully

agree with you that the upkeep and preservation of cultural heritage is important,

especially in the case of Malta as the Maltese archipelago has one of the highest densities

of cultural heritage sites in the world.

I am pleased to inform you that the preservation of historical sites is one of the targeted

areas of the EU Structural Funds in Malta. In the 2004-2006 programming period Malta

received EUR 46.7 million (approximately 0.36% of its GDP) from the European

Regional Development Fund (ERDF), out of which EUR 3.85 million was allocated for

the support to the tourism sector, with one of the objectives being the conservation of key

heritage sites. An important project co-funded by the ERDF was the conservation of the

Hagar Qim and Mnajdra temples, which belong to UNESCO world heritage sites.

The funds available to Malta from ERDF increased significantly in the 2007-2013

programming period, with EUR 444 million allocated under the Operational Programme

'Investing in Competitiveness for a Better Quality of Life'. Out of this amount EUR 27.6

million is targeting the protection and preservation of the culture heritage sites under the

priority 2 'Promoting Sustainable Tourism'.

For more information on individual projects supported, please contact the managing

authority for the above-mentioned Operation Programme, who is in the first instance

responsible for the selection and funding of projects:

Mr Raymond Hinton

Commission européenne, B-1049 Bruxelles / Europese Commissie, B-1049 Brussel - Belgium. Telephone: (32-2) 299 1111.

Office: CSM1 05/17. Telephone: direct line (32-2) 2988432. Fax: (32-2) 2966005.

C:\Documents and Settings\bertoli\Local SettingsYTemporary Internet Files\OLKA2\Reply to Mr Hinton.doc

http://ec.europa.eu/comm/reglonal_policy/

E-mail: Lenka.Nielsen@ec.europa.eu

Planning and Priorities Coordination Division

Office of the Prime Minister

12/13, St Paul Street, Valletta

VLT 1210, Malta

Tel: (356) 2200 1142/3

Fax:(356)2200 1141

http://www.ppcd.gov.mt

Yours sincerely

Georgios Yannoussis