The dismantling of the British barracks at Fort Chambray is not the first controversial project that Alex Torpiano is involved in but does not agree with. Alex Tropiano is Din L-Art Ħelwa’s Executive President, an NGO which lobbies and works for the preservation of Malta’s national heritage sites. His firm will dismantle and rebuild the British barracks in Fort Chambray, a project Din L-Art Ħelwa opposed.
Alex Torpiano worked on Tigne Point and Fort Cambridge and was involved in the destruction of caves in these areas to build the new high-rise apartments on the coastline. On Fort Cambridge he even submitted the original application without an Environmental Impact Assessment, only to be forced to submit the EIA after pressure from environmental NGOs. He failed to submit many other reports, and covered up the developers when they disposed dust into the sea after having failed to submit the dust counts as he was obliged to do. The developers of Fort Cambridge and Tigne Point disposed a significant amount of construction waste into the sea. Carmel Cacopardo from the Green Party, once called out the architect’s hypocrisy on reports and for failing to practice what he preaches here.
He was also the original architect who advocated for the excavation of Saint John’s co-Cathedral to build a museum, a project that was extended further from the original plans and is now also in shambles. Adding new structures to Saint John’s co-Cathedral was an adventure for architects and developers that has gone horribly wrong, but Alex Torpiano was one of the architects who enthusiastically wanted to develop the Cathedral. Eventually, he fell-out with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and joined Din L-Art Ħelwa: an environmental and heritage NGO which had opposed the Tigne Point and Fort Cambridge projects he was involved in.
Throughout these years as an architect for major national projects, Alex Torpiano worked as a professor at the University of Malta and even as Dean of the Faculty for the Built Environment for a total of 16 years: effectively, he worked two-full time-jobs and a part-time job as Dean with one full-time job and the part-time job paid for by public funds. Incredible how easy these people can have it, but in reality this is all part of the rent-seeking and corrupt culture of this country. One single-person with political connections accumulates a lot of power thanks to his public connections and public positions, and then joins an NGO for the press appearances and the pontification that lead to awards and potentially more public opportunities.
The man gives a horrible example to his students and projects the sorry state of rent-seeking in the professional industries in Malta, especially in the construction industry. Only in insular and village-like societies can people Alex Torpiano get away by projecting themselves as “respectable experts” when in reality they have nothing to show for except a history of rent-seeking and state-backed careers.
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