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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 4 MAY 2014 News 9 JAMES DEBONO WORK on the restoration of Fort Cambridge is set to start in the next two months, Paul Attard, a director of Gap Holdings – the company re- sponsible for the Fort Cambridge de- velopment – has told MaltaToday. Over the past months residents complained about the state of ne- glect of the site beneath the luxury Fort Cambridge apartments, which has been exposed to the elements and has even been the brunt of mys- terious fires. "The place right now has become a rubbish dump," one resident who spoke to MaltaToday complained. The MEPA board had approved the permit for the restoration of Fort Cambridge on 15 July 2010, as a condition in the permit for the Fort Cambridge development, entrusted to Gap Holdings. But the promised restoration works have yet to commence. Gap Holdings issued a call for ten- der for the restoration works, which is now in the "final stages of adjudi- cation". "If no unforeseen circumstances occur works are scheduled to start within the next 60 days," Paul Attard told MaltaToday. The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage has also been informed that Gap Holdings will be starting restoration works. But the Superin- tendence is still waiting for the pro- gramme of restoration works. Attard referred to works carried out before 2010, which consisted in the removal of a swimming pool and other structures that had previ- ously encumbered the fort, when it was part of the former Crowne Plaza hotel. "This work was important to identify the original core structures of the Fort." When asked why works had yet to commence nearly four years after the issuance of the permit, a MEPA spokesperson explained that al- though a planning permit has an expiry date, "it does not stipulate by when works have to be carried out". When asked what steps MEPA is taking to protect the site until the restoration works start, the spokes- person replied that the authority was only responsible for monitoring and enforcing permit conditions once works commence on the site. Fort Cambridge was one of the British-built fortresses in the system of defence created at Tigné Point. The pentagon-shaped fort dates to the 1880s and is similar in design to Fort Rinella in Kalkara. In fact, both forts housed one of the three fa- mous 100-tonne coastal guns, which required a gun crew of 35 – Fort Cambridge was built specifically to accommodate it. Work on it began in 1878 but it was not finished until 1898. Previously, the fort, formed part of the Crowne Plaza Hotel. A swim- ming pool had been created and parts of the ramparts were covered up so as to support other hotel ven- ues such as the 'Big Blue' lido. The restoration, approved by the MEPA board in 2010, will bring the fort back to its original layout through the cleaning of stonework, and opening up of areas, which had previously been blocked or covered over. When approving the project, MEPA made it clear that while it had no objection to commercial facilities located in the restored fort, any such development requires a new MEPA application. Fort Cambridge restoration to finally start in July Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology Administration Building, MCAST Main Campus Corradino Hill, Paola PLA 9032 T: 2398 7100 F: 2398 7316 E: tenders@mcast.edu.mt www.mcast.edu.mt agreement for LNG as well as the construction of an LNG plant. ElectroGas Malta is also made up of Azerbaijan state gas company SOCAR Trading, Siemens Project Ventures, and Maltese firm GEM Holdings. Enemalta recently signed a €320 million deal for a 33% stake for Chi- nese firm Shanghai Electric, a coup for the ailing state utility which has over €600 million in debt. Gasol CEO Alan Buxton said the company was positioning itself as a leader in gas-to-power in Africa. "The next step is for us to work with CMEC on the feasibility stud- ies for the projects that we have in mind and then announce which is the first power project that we are going to develop together." CMEC has been present in Turkey since the 1980s, having amassed $3 billion in projects in the country by 2013. In Turkey it built a 600MW thermal power plant, and has used its links to Chinese financial in- stitutions to create an investment fund. Shanghai Electric is one of the largest diversified equipment man- ufacturing groups in China, whose business includes the engineering and construction of power plants. Employers voice caution on maternity leave proposal will be distorted. On his part, Tonio Fenech said the Opposition disagreed with increasing the yearly social security contribution. "When the Nationalist administration proposed for maternity leave to be in- creased by four weeks, the government shouldered the increase. If government wants to give maternity leave it should do so, without increasing the burden on the employers." The former finance minister said the maternity leave proposal raised several questions by the social partners. Fenech reiterated the government should only fund maternity leave once it becomes sustainable for the country's coffers. "It's evident that the government is not proposing to finance it but it will be the employers who will fork out the money," he said, adding that increasing the employers' burdens will negatively affect Malta's competitiveness. Like Joe Farrugia, Doris Sammut Bon- nici, President of the Malta Association of Women in Business, is awaiting fur- ther information on the proposal before commenting any further. However, like economist Karm Far- rugia, Sammut Bonnici said the current system worked against women. "Women are simply not finding jobs because employers, given the choice of two talented people, will go for the man. As long as maternity leave re- mains a burden for the employer, it will work against the women," she said. Tonio Fenech, shadow finance minister Gasol chief executive Alan Buxton The underlying fort beneath the towering Fort Cambridge apartments (Photo: Ray Attard)