Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1523590
12 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 JULY 2024 MATTHEW VELLA mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Search for new site for National Archives ongoing since 2021 JobsPlus Permit Number: 547/2024 The Authority for integrity in Maltese Sports is looking for an Executive (integrity). The applicant is expected to be analytical, curious and shall have a general interest in sports. The role includes data analysis, sport related investigations and promotion of the ideal of Sport Integrity and Clean Sports. The candidate shall be in possession of an undergraduate degree (at NQF Level 6) ideally in Finance or Criminology. Furthermore, the apploicant is requested to have a minimum of 2 years experience in data analysis. Experience in financial compliance will be considered an asset. The ideal candidate shall be IT knowledgeable, especially s/he shall be interested in financial investigations and the fight against match-fixing. The successful applicant shall be prepared to undergo specialized training. Interested applicants are invited to send their application via email. The application shall include a covering letter, a CV and a recent police conduct. Applications will be accepted until the 16 th of July 2024 at noon. Applications including the above-mentioned documents are to be sent to the following address: ryan.c.borg@aims.org.mt A decision to cancel a deed of transfer of land at Ta' Qali for a new, centralised for Malta's National Archives, was taken over "environmental and op- erational considerations for the Ta' Qali National Park" back in December 2021, the minister for the arts said. Replying to a parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Julie Zahra, minister for the arts Owen Bonnici said the eleventh-hour change of plans for the National Archives of Malta still meant the govern- ment was evaluating various sites for the relocation of the important institution. "The aim is to identify a site that not only satisfies the tech- nical requirements for such a repository for our priceless heritage, but also to improve public access as well as culti- vate greater awareness of our National Archives. "Internal talks are ongoing," Bonnici added. "It is crucial that we achieve this goal with future-proof decisions." Zahra, speaking to Malta- Today, said the minister's an- swer lacked detail on the gov- ernment's efforts to secure a physical site for a brand-new archival institution. "I hope that this site is found. It is government's obligation, and it cannot be some elector- al pledge that is left to gather dust. It is indeed our obliga- tion that we can preserve part of our county's history and identity, and the Nationalist Party is committed that this pledge is delivered." The National Archives was accorded land at Ta' Qali in a 2019 deed in an joint ef- fort from three ministers, but since then the planned project was overtaken by the Ta' Qali concert venue built in place of an old concrete factory. Now the government has been forced to seek new stor- age space that can guarantee 5,000 linear metres of shelv- ing for the National Archives' holdings, which are current- ly held at the Santu Spirtu in Rabat, a premises that is not suitable for the storage of such precious archives, and six oth- er buildings. It is a tall order for the pro- spective service provider, who will have to also provide the National Archives with an online portal that provides real-time information on the status of the archived records, apart from the facility of re- questing records through the same. The prospective new Nation- al Archives building would have centralised all servic- es in a state-of-the-art and purposely built repository, housing also the National Au- dio-Visual Institute (NAVI) for Malta's audio-visual her- itage. "All these dreams faded away when the Ta' Qali site was unceremoniously 'taken over'," chief archivist Charles J. Farrugia noted in an annu- al report for the National Ar- chives, which came with a se- vere warning. "The future of the new na- tional archive building de- pends on the identification by government of a new site for the project. Until then, we will continue investing in our net- work of current buildings that with the notarial registers' ar- chive will comprise seven re- positories. We may keep add- ing to the repositories but in the long run the system risks collapsing." The current fragmentation of the archives into buildings that do not even offer the basic minimum climatic conditions is preventing the Archives from having effective physical and intellectual control on its archival deposits, apart from being unable to develop IT services for patrons. "Fragmented space is not only costly but risky and will hamper the process of ade- quate cataloguing and opening to the public," Farrugia said. While the Maltese nation- al archives are supported by public departments applying retention policies on their documents, the scale of the public administration system is such that every new year brings with it the need for 1 kilometre of additional stor- age space. Above: The National Archives, Top right: Minister Owen Bonnici and (bottom right) PN spokesperson Julie Zahra