And the Philistines are back in government
The Times reports on Joe Mizzi, Minister for Roads, Infrastructure and Oil Exploration, a man who wouldn’t know a piece of great architecture if it ran him over, scraped him up and turned him into corned beef:
Asked whether the open theatre would be roofed, the minister said the whole project would be discussed with Mr Piano.
It has come to this. An unskilled worker who has spent the last 10 years making photocopies and being a general dogsbody in a business office will be leading the discussions with the world’s greatest living architect on how he thinks that architect’s work should be improved to keep Switcher Ken happy and content and singing Labour’s praises.
Whatever rogue gene was fed into our genetic pool 500 years ago has run riot and turned us into a big village of insufferable twerps.
The Minister for Roads, Infrastructure and Oil Exploration, who until four weeks ago was making photocopies and running errands for a living.
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I nearly wet the bed.
Gopher Mizzi.
If Piano’s brief was a proper parliament and a theatre project costing X millions of Euros then he would build a proper parliament and with the money left propose a roofless theatre.
If the country afforded a proper theatre, Piano wouldn’t have proposed a roofless one.
It ALWAYS boils down to money.
Mizzi made the sensible decision to consult Piano.It’s his baby.
[Daphne – PLEASE. The theatre is not ‘roofless’ and it is not that way because of lack of money. That is how it is conceived. It is an open theatre, not a roofless theatre. This is a very strange misconception. No, not all theatres are roofed over and yes, there are such things as open theatres. They serve an entirely different purpose. A verandah is not a room that isn’t enclosed because it’s owners ran out of money. It is a verandah, as distinct from a room.]
Do you know why the Colisseum is roofless? It’s because the Romans ran out of money.
Because they did not have the technology and knowhow to cover it.
For the same reason that covered stadiums need vast air conditioning systems. And that the Manoel becomes unbearably hot from May to October. Giving rise to many a hot flush.
What, so the reason the theatre has no roof is, you reckon, because a roof just wouldn’t fit into the budget!?
That’s the best I’ve heard on the matter! Sig. Piano would be in stitches at this comment (I hope).
I have to disagree with you Daphne. It was all about cost-effectiveness and was not in keeping with a Mannerist/Baroque walled city.
It is a roofless or open-air theatre, whatever euphemism you prefer, even al fresco if you like. They just knew that:
A) re-building the orginal would be too expensive;
B) The Maltese are the least well-read in the EU; they are hardly going to go to the theatre – hence there is no market for it either so why bother.
The gate is a similar story. They did not have the money for it so they thought, well we will build a completely incongruous cairoesque gaping hole for want of a better word. We will just use the excuse that you will be able to see St. James Cavalier thanks to the celestial alignment with a distant constellation. I don’t buy it. Why didn’t they just bulldoze the whole lot so as to give the visitor an immediate and unobstructed view of the sea?
Don’t get me wrong, Lejber have no idea what they are doing; I just think the last government could have done better.
Then there is the parliament building, at the gate of the capital. Please, they should start handing out paper bags at the ‘gate’ for tourists who are not wise to the fact that they need to turn their heads ninety degrees to the left as they are walking by.
Not in keeping with a baroque mannerist walled city.
And what, pray, are we to do with St.Paul’s, the Scot’s, Evans, the Camarata, the courts, the market, the gunposts, Vincenti, Ferreria, need I go on?
Do you even know what mannerism implies?
Ever been to a walled city? Bit of a contradiction in terms is it? Time to read Valletta as the city centre. Please.
Cairoesque gaping hole? Surely you meant Luxor.
If you can’t distinguish between ramparts designed to deflect cannon fire and Egyptian problems with loading so be it.
Piano restores the bastions and aligns the geometry and all you do is read off your ladybird.
The only real problem to be resolved is that ruddy burger joint protruding out in stages.
Unless you think that’s fine for tourists walking into the city. Even because we’re not allowed sightseeing.
I despair.
Piano himself had admitted that the decision was because of money.
It is clearly obvious that Piano was asked to build a much needed parliament which befits a democratic country in the for the 21st century, so that the Presidential Palace is vacated and we will have a proper showcase for our heritage from the knights period.So far so good.
Knowing Gonzi by his deeds,I guess that he wanted to ‘clean up’ the Valletta entrance and gave a free hand to Piano to do the job at a cost. My question at the time was “Can we have an explanation by Architect Piano why the theatre does not provide shelter for the audience and the performers?”
We got a reply in the media that a roof costs a lot of money because one has to create expensive supports to hold such a big roof.
To be sincere I understand that if a roof is fitted , then the whole concept of the design will fall to pieces, because then people like KZT will ask for the side walls and then the sound system has to be redesigned together with the lighting system and the chairs could have been less expensive and we will have the never ending saga started again.
So yes it all boils down to money, Gonzi never gave anyone an open cheque. He showed us that, from day one with the Mater Dei project.
Perhaps Mr. Joe Mizzi should go back to being a radio operator.
Even then, he was only good to serve on the Gozo and Sicily boats – nothing really seaman-like
That is why Joseph is head-hunting brains; he knows he mainly has goons in his show.
Joe Mizzi is boasting about the large number of oil companies that he has met in the past three weeks:
http://www.inewsmalta.com/dart/20130404-laqg-at-intensivi-ma-kumpaniji-interessati-fit-affir-ta-ejt
He is counting his chickens before they have hatched. Have these oil companies been screened? No need. All they have to do is groom his insecurity and he will give them all of Malta, no questions asked.
Joe Mizzi does not know cheese from chalk when it comes to oil exploration. His ridiculous comments on the Kercem well he commissioned when he was minister in 1996 proves that.
You evidently didn’t listen to him give us chapter and verse (TVAM yesterday) on how he went round the Transport Malta offices with the electrician and Enemalta engineer to track down a faulty circuit breaker that was tripping the electricity supply. To be fair this had been happened several times and no one bothered to sort the source of the problem – typical civil servants.
The rumour is that he’s going to set up an office on an Arriva bus. (Like his colleague who set up an office at the Emergency Department.)
Best Brains remember!
I will retreat to the little alcove below the stairs when this troglodyte flies to Paris to ‘discuss the whole project’.
Reminds me when Gauguin’s client insisted on the horse being white as he preferred looking at it ‘with his eyes wide open’.
Not to worry, Piano will gather a handful of franka, go up the scaffolding and pretend to chisel away.
Will someone please direct Renzo Piano to this blog before it’s too late?
“…and Oil Exploration”
Why appoint a minister for that?
“World’s greatest living architect” well, that’s your opinion. I don’t share it. World’s most self-obsessed narcissist more like.
Do you at least agree that Joe Mizzi is at the far end of the scale?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/79/British_bieb.jpg
Beautiful.
If I’m not mistaken Joe Mizzi is a qualified radio officer by profession, and may I say a good one at that.
We have in parliament university graduates who cheated to get their degrees, who cheated their clients and who were arrogant with people.
Don’t try depicting Mr Mizzi as someone stupid; he’s a hands on qualified person.
He’s the technical guy who designed the transmission of the then Super One radio without the need of expensive big antennas. One Radio’s reception is one of the best in Malta. One can listen to it from places like Marsalforn from where other stations have a poor signal.
So give the devil his due and let him learn the ropes. He’s an intelligent guy.
[Daphne – No he isn’t, Gahan. The state telecommunications company, where he was an employee, offloaded him onto a publicly listed company in which it had a shareholding as soon as it could. That was more than 12 years ago. He has been there ever since, and does little more than general dogsbody work. Had he been truly worth his salt he would have been headhunted or have moved on of his own volition. Aside from which, you cannot say that somebody has what it takes to run a government ministry because he’s a good radio technician. Nor should a government minister ‘learn the ropes’. The running of the Maltese state is not a training ground for people who want to cut their teeth on something meaty.]
When I see a bad decision I will be the first to point it out. Five years ago we had Clyde Puli taking his familiy to China for the Olympics and the same Clyde Puli together with our Prime Minister presenting to us the White Rocks Project which was rather a still born White Elephant.
Ministers have to be good listeners to their advisors (Civil servants) and leave their personal opinions for themselves.
What qualifications did Anton Tabone have to run the Gozo Ministry? I tell you; “He always wore a suite, that’s all.”
On a global scale:” What were ex-Hollywood actor Ronald Reagan’s qualifications , or George W Bush’s to be made Presidents of the US of A?Popularity perhaps.
Carmelo Abela works as some glorified clerk with HSBC and he answers to someone who’s less qualified than he is. Where does that leave us?
GO preferred to leave Mizzi where he was because probably he was busy with his parliamentary work.I’ve seen this happening because I work in the private sector.
While at it I can tell you that GO had one of it’s executives who did bloody nothing except watch football in his office . he was the head of the Malta Football supporters. By your standards he should be prime minister if he got elected.
Like everybody else Minister Joe Mizzi will make gaffes and mistakes and we’ll be there watching over him.But he’s no stupid guy as you’re trying to depict him.
I bet my bottom dollar that the majority of parliamentarians are not able to start to understand his specialisation subject, let alone be a radio officer.
Personally I’m more afraid of DOCTOR Konrad Mizzi who is qualified in IT and posing to be a hands on expert on LNG power station projects.There’s the real danger, because other qualified ENEMALTA engineers will give him enough rope to hang himself(and us with him) if he crosses them.