Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1133773
10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 JUNE 2019 NEWS KARL AZZOPARDI AS a young man, Gozitan MP Kevin Cutajar would ask friends and volunteers to tape- record a reading of his text- books. Blind at the age of 13, follow- ing an illness, the Ninu Cre- mona Junior Lyceum student saw his world come to an end, enduring a trauma which he says, lasted five to six years – an even greater challenge than losing his eyesight. Still in his teens, with facilities for the disabled woefully want- ing, Cutajar found solace when a software company developed a programme that could read electronic texts, allowing him to conclude his secondary edu- cation and overcome a crucial milestone in his development despite the trauma of his blind- ness. In the misfortune he faced, this technological silver lining was soon becoming the blue- print of all digital advance- ment. "When I finished my studies, technology advanced, and the use of talking comput- ers, laptops, electronic texts started becoming the norm," the 40-year-old lawyer, who Gozitan MP Kevin Cutajar is no newcomer to politics but inside the House he is Malta's first blind MP. He wants to be a beacon of hope for those like him A new political At age 13, Kevin Cutajar lost his eyesight following a sickness. He says he endured the trauma of losing his eyesight for five years until technology enabled him to be able to read texts and pursue his studies PHOTO JAMES BIANCHI JAMES DEBONO THE Superintendence for Cul- tural Heritage has officially called for the re-routing of the Central Link project to protect a cluster of vernacular build- ings in the vicinity of the St Paul Shipwrecked chapel. In seeking to defend these structures the Superintendence said it was not just concerned by the proposed demolition of these "historic structures", but also by "the total redefinition of a cultural landscape". Cultural landscape is a term which denotes an interplay be- tween nature and human inter- vention in creating landmarks rooted in social memory. In its report the Superintend- ence is now strongly urging In- frastructure Malta to re-route the proposed road "to preserve the legibility of this area". Only if re-routing is impossi- ble should these historic struc- tures "be relocated within the immediate environs". While one of these properties has undergone extensive inter- nal changes, two of the prop- erties are of evident antiquity, "having slab ceilings borne on kileb". These older properties are also attached to a traditional walled orchard. The Superintendence is also calling for the preservation of a tower-like structure "of evi- dent antiquity" located within a walled orchard near the Chapel of St Paul Shipwrecked. "These properties have a degree of cultural heritage value and the Superintendence is favourable to their preservation in situ," it said. The Superintendence is also calling for the protection of a traditional structure, located at the Wied Incita Plant Nursery, a cluster of vernacular struc- tures off Triq l-Imdina and two adjacent buildings of evident ar- chitectural and historical value located just off the Mriehel By- Pass. A total of 15 buildings will have to be demolished to make way for the new road. The build- ings were all inspected by the heritage authorities between 11 and 14 June. In the case of eight of these buildings the Superin- tendence concluded that these do not have cultural heritage value that would warrant their preservation. Superintendence now calls for Central Link re-routing to protect historic Attard buildings