Fort St Angelo is no fit place for heads of government and their entourages

From Phyllis Muscat’s interview in The Sunday Times today

In the typical fashion of those who think Malta is the world’s navel, and who believe the propaganda they were brainwashed with for a lifetime that Malta’s historical sites are Di Bast and ‘unbeatable’, Phyllis Muscat and her team of fellow backwoodsmen and backwoodswomen are organising a ‘retreat’ for the Commonwealth Heads of Government and their entourages at Fort St Angelo.

Retreat – straight out of their religio-cultural forma mentis.

A retreat from what and to discuss what, exactly? Are they planning it on the lines of a church outing? A day out with a picnic and tombla?

Fort St. Angelo in autumn is a crazy idea. Fort St Angelo at any time of the year would be bad, because the restoration is nowhere near ready – but in the damp it will be downright miserable.

Aside from the fact that it is a restoration building site, there are absolutely no comforts or amenities. The only sections being conserved/restored are the outer vaults in the fortifications. Is Backwoods Bunny Phyllis planning to stuff people accustomed to being hosted in chateaux, palaces and grand hotels into some clammy, cold, unheated, damp and unfurnished stone vaults with no lavatories?

The central area of the fort, where Mintoff’s plans for a hotel failed miserably, does not form part of the restoration works nor do the pathways and inner sections.

The last time I went there on a look-see, I had to wear a hard hat and almost broke my ankle. Most of the place is dilapidated pending the funds for restoration.

And to complicated matters further, it’s a fort, so by its very nature there is one restricted entry and exit point for the entire party.

The gateway was designed specifically to prevent hundreds of people from flowing in.

Perhaps the highly confused and out-of-her-depth Mrs Muscat means that she has entered into some kind of agreement with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to have the CHOGM delegations entertained at their Fort St Angelo base, which is in good shape.

But it cannot take more than around 200 people indoors unless they put up a marquee outside. The logistics there would not be the biggest problem, though.

Hosting them at the Sovereign Military Order’s compound would be the equivalent of the Maltese government hosting the Commonwealth delegations at, say, the Brazilian embassy, paying a fee to Brazil for the privilege.

The Sovereign Military Order is, as the name strongly suggests, sovereign. The Malta government has no right of entry there and will have to seek permission and pay a fee. And there are diplomatic implications which don’t exist when paying a fee to a hotel.