Let government intervene to restore private dilapidated buildings, GHRC head pleads

Lawmakers needed to explore ways how the government could intervene to restore historic dilapidated private properties, the chairman of the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation, Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, said today.

“Does it make sense to allow properties to deteriorate into eyesores in areas where millions are being spent on regeneration and restoration, such as in Valletta? While I would exclude expropriation, we need to find a solution how private owners would be compelled to look after their property within constitutional parameters,” Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi said.

He was speaking at a conference on regeneration, organised by the corporation.
Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi vented his frustration that in some instances, efforts to restore historic areas to their former glory were hindered by the fact that the government could not intervene as the buildings were private.

Another problem was that the authorities sometimes could not even identify the owners of dilapidated buildings, he said.

The conference was also addressed by Prof. Alex Torpiano, dean of the Faculty of the Built Environment at the University of Malta, who gave a brief overview of the major initiatives taken since the early 1950s, including “slum clearance” projects that evolved into rehabilitation projects...

Read the full article published April 5, 2017 on Times of Malta online. 

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