REPORTS

on the working of

GOVERNMENT DEPART ME

covering periods between

1st April, 1977

and

13th August, 1978

Published by the Department of Inf<> rmation Printed at l!he Central Office of Statistics (Printing Division) 1978 Price 20c INDEX

Page Page

House of Representatives 1 Publ ic Libraries 59

Public Service Commission 8 Museums 63

Information 10 Treasury ... 67 Armed Forces of Malta 13 Inland Revenue 71

Gozo Secretariat 19 Public Lo tto 76 Police 21 Customs 79 Civil Aviation 23 Audit 83

Statistics 25 Posts 85 Attorney General 28 Port 90 Public Registry (Malta) 31 Health 95

Public Registry (Gczo) ... 34 Public Works 98

Notary to Government (Malta) 35 Water 104 Notary to Government (Gozo) 36 Labour and Emigration 108 Courts of Law 37 Social Services 114 Prisons 40 Trade 121 Lands 43 Industry 124 Land Registry 46 Housing ... 47 Agriculture and Fisheries 128

Education 49 Milk Marketing Undertaking 131 63 ment of the skeleton - with the feet due east would ~eun to suggest a Moslem in t ~rment.

Museums 5. An ancient circular pit for the storage of grain was discovered at Xewkija, Gozo in Jan­ (Period covered: uary; with an internal diameter of approximately 1.20 metres and a depth 1.40 1st April, 1977 to 31st March, 1978) of metres, its walls were lined with baked pottery, rendered on the inside and set in a layer of clay against the sur­ sounding rock.

The Archaeological Section of the Depart­ 6. After its original use was discontinued, ment conducted an important investigation at the the pit served as a dump for broken pottery, in­ medieval church of Mal Millieri during the first cluding stoves, amphorae, dishes and plates. A fortnight of April 1977. The campaign was car­ fine rer -ware cup of terra sigillata type and stamp­ ried out with the active co-operation of the "Mal ed ..., ith the maker's mark and a pottery stand Millieri ar.d Bir Miftun Trust" and the Classics decorated with a Doric frieze date the find to the Department of the University of Malta. Roman period.

2. In the cour~e of the excavations the re­ 7. Two double-chambe:-ed rock-cut tombs mains of a small church, known from historical dating to the 2r.d l5t century B.C. were dis­ documents to have been dedicated to the Visita­ co ~vercd in 1\l::arch during construction work on a tion, were brought to light. The church was football ground near the Tarmac Factory at Mal built agairst the north wall of the existing An­ Far. The tombs yielded the usual furniture of nunication chapel. probably built towards the pottery items typical of the late Punic period, middle of the 15th century. Further investigation some of wh'ch clearly showing a Hellenistic im­ under the paved floor of the latter revealed that print. this church was preceded by ar> ~arlier chapel with a torba floor. Tt is hoped that a study of the 8. Throughout the period under review the stratified pottery a1

3. In November a palaco-Christian cata­ 9. Th~ new Sciortino Hall at the National comb cut in the rock was discovered at Rabat Museum of Fine Arts, containing the best works under the back yard of a pri\'ate house under con­ bequeathed to the nation by the Maltese sculptor struction. The monument, however, proved to Antonio Sciortino, was inaugurated by the have been already rifled. Preliminary work on Minister of Labour, Welfare and Culture. For the the clearing of rubble in the area where the monu­ occasion a small exhibition of manuscripts and ment was broken into has been completed and photo~r aphs connected with Sciortino a.td his arrangements are currently being made for its work was prepared. Work on the drawings, water­ preservation. colours, maps and manuscripts was completed and the section is now open to the public. A pro­ 4. Tn October the Section was informed by per workshop has been set up. the Police that skeletal remains had been exposed by rain water near the R.A.F. station at .Y1arsa­ 10. A new restorer of paintings has now xlokk. Investigations showed that the skeletal joined the Museum staff on completion of his remains belonged to a simple burial in a shallow course at the lstituto Centrale del Restauro in pit, similar in all respects to several others exca­ . This has made it easier to restore a num­ vated by the Section in the same area which was ber of paintings from the Museum collection as apparently ut ilised as a burial ground. It was well as pictures from Government departments impossible to date the burial with any degree of and churches. Most of the time, h owever, was a7curacy as no pottery items or objects of any taken up with the restoration of the Nasoni kmd were found associated with it. The align- Panels from the . These had been taken 64 down during the last war and most of them were Subject of Exhibition E~h lbitor or Organiser in a very bad state. The panels of one of the cor­ Lithographs and contruc­ ridors were brought ~o the Museum, fixed and tions ... Christa Rudloff mounted on marine plywood and restored with Lithographs the help of a number of volunteers. A couple of etchings and panels that were missing are now being painted drawings Lady Willet and the panels of the first corridor should be up Paintings Monica Szathmary in the very near future. The other corridors will Paintings and Drawings El Faatah University then be taken in hand. Paintings and Drawings Wednesday Group 11. Another major work taken in hand re­ Paintings and Drawings Harry Alden cently was the re-organization of the Armoury. Paintings Esprit Barthet All the items had been transferred to the ground Paintings and Drawings Raymond Pitre floor of the Palace awaiting a proper re-arrange­ Paintings and Drawings H.D. Chauhan ment. This has now been taken up in earnest and should be ready this year. Paintings and Etchings R. Saliba Woodcuts and Litho- 12. All works of art at the Museum and in graphs Embassy of the Peo­ government premises are now being catalogued ple's Republic of and photographed to provide an up-to-date inven­ China tory. This has been made possible by the addi­ Paintings Hazel Strokes tion of a clerk to the staff. Paintings Margaret Ralston 13. Items to be exhibited in the proposed Folk Museum are being stored at the Inquisitor's 17. The staff of the National Museum of Palace, Vittoriosa and will be set up as soon as Fine Arts were responsible for the setting up of the structural repairs now being carried out are the Italian Bronzetto Exhibition held at the completed. Palace and for the Art Exhibition held in aid of the Physically Handicapped at the Embassy of 14. New acquisitions include a portrait bust the Sovereign Military Order. An exhibition of by Vincent Apap, a 17th century wax head, draw­ Maltese works of art was held in London and ings and some objects for the proposed folk other works were sent for exhibition abroad. An museum. exhibition of Maltese art was held at the Grand Hotel Verdala, Rabat. 15. As in previous years a good number of 18. Members of exhibitions by Maltese and foreign artists were the staff gave lectures on Art History at the University, held at the Museum. Each artist exhibiting at the School of Art and at other cultural the Museum has donated a work of art, thus help­ centres. They also helped to produce art programmes ing to build up a representative collection of con­ on M.T.V. The lec­ ture room was used for temporary art. It is proposed to roof over an lectures, meetings by art societies and by the area on the top floor to house this growing col­ "Friends of the Museums" lection. society recently set up. 19. The year's work in the National 16. The programme of temporary exhibi­ Museum of Natural History was mainly concen­ tions comprised the following: trated on the proposed Mammal halls, which were nearing completion by the end of March Subject of Exhibition Exhibitor or Organiser 1978. This sub-section will occupy three halls Paintings Hilda Lewis on the south wing of and will com­ Paintings Mary Depiro prise more than 45 mammals from various count­ tries and continents. The show-cases Paintings and the Essentialists dioramas inside them were an produced by the Prints Hungarian Artists Museum staff. Drawings and Paintings William Driscoll Drawings and Paintings Jan ne Staehr 20. A hall displaying the original colour drawings and some of the line drawings for the Drawings and Photo- book "Birds of the Maltese Archipelago" has been graphs Nicole Melnik set up. This extension will be officially inaugu­ Painted Fabrics Marie Antoinette de rated on the same day as the Mammal halls. Piemo Meanwhile, sale of the publication itself contin- 65 ued at a steady pace, 1612 copies being disposed palaeontology to museum guides and upper of by the end of March 1978. secondary and University students, the Assistant ~urato r of Natural History published the follow­ 21. Field research in ornithology was car­ mg: ried out by a team of Museum volunteer helpers. Throughout the year 5665 birds of 77 different An Outline of Maltese Geology, 44 pp. 29 species were ringect and eight recoveries of pis., 6 figs., June 1977, with a Foreword by the Museum-ringed birds reported; the Chiffchaff was Minister of Labour, Welfare and Culture; once again the most-ringed suecies, accounting The magical properties of rock from St Paul's !or 1036 of the above total. The Museum organ­ Grotto, Rabat, Malta, in Studies in Speleology, ISed two bird-ringing expeditions to the island of London, 3 (l): 29-32, Aug. 1977. Filfla on the week-ends of 25/26 June and 16/17 July; on these occasions a total of 907 birds of 27. During the year the Museum received three different species were ringed, the Storm the following donations: Petrel being the most commonly ringed !ipecies with 899. part of a cetacean rib in globigerina limestone from Mofra z-Zgnira - donor: Mr Joseph Gatt of Gnaxaq; 22. Further work was done on the Museum's research and display collectiot1. narticularly those four boxes of unsorted material from the Quater­ ref~rring to birds, insects. shells and reptiles, nary sand dunes at Marfa Point - donor: Dr T.O. while hundreds of sea-shell specimens were Morris of St Paul's Bay. cleaned, identified and indexed. More local in­ sects were collected and set for the Museum col­ 28. The year under review in so far as the lection. The collections were augmented by more War Museum at Fort St Elmo, was con­ local inEects and reptiles; the latter, together with cerned, was marked by further improvements in the available foreign specimens, are being pre­ the laym't and display of many sections in the ex­ pared for display. Plans are also in hand to set hibiton hall. In several instances this was due to up an exhibit of Maltese flora in collaboration important acquisitions by gift or purchase which with the Natural History Society. came about through the close collaboration exist­ ing between the Department and the War Museum 23. The Assistant Curator of Natural His­ Association. tory worked on a large number of Quaternary avian remains in the co11ections at Gnar Dalam 29 . A fibre-glass replica of the ship's bell of H.M.S. Illustrious was presented to the Museum an~ the Museum at , classifving and regis­ tenng t.hem under number and provenance. It is by Admiral Sir Charles Madden, formerly Chair­ honed that this material will be transferred to man of the National Maritime Museum, Green­ Gliar Dalam when the museum there will be re­ wich. The Royal Air Force, Luqa donated a organised. mobile trolley for the Spitfire Merlin engine and a trestle for the Gladiator "Faith". The Depart­ 24. Assistance was given to a group com­ ment purchased an oil painting showing surren­ dered units of the Italian fleet at Marsax!okk Bav posed of Ph.D. tutors and students fro~ the Universitv of L0ndon while studving the Dis­ by Rowland Langmaid, an official war artist. - coasters of the Middle Miocene clays of the Mal­ tese Islands. 23 species were recorded, 9 of 30. Members of the War Museum Associa­ which new to science and among the latter one tion particioated in a joint project with the R.A.F. which has been named Discoa-.:ter zammitmaem­ Sub-aqua Club and the Armed Forces of Malta peli in honour of the Assistant Curator. The exer­ to investigate the sunken wreck of a war-time cise was followed by the first electron-microscope Beaufort aircraft off Zonqor Point. Among the studv ever to be carried out on these local fossils material recovered were an engine, the gunner's and by the relative publication by Mr M. Hojjat­ seat and two ·303 Browning machine-guns. The zadeh, an Iranian student with the group. Management of Malta Drydocks agreed to the As~ociatio~·~ request to refurbish the only bar­ 25. The Assitant Curator also collaborated chmo survivmg from the Italian E-boat attack on with scientists in the Federal Republic of Ger­ the Grand Harbour on 26th July 1941. many and the United Kingdom in the study of Quaternary lizarcls and giant extinct birds of the Maltese Islands. F. S. MALLIA Director, Museums Department 26. Besides giving lectures on geology and 24th May, 1978. 66

Comparative statement of visitors admitted to Museums and Monuments during the Financial Years 1976-77 and 1977-78 ------·------·------1----·------1976-77 1977-78 Place On Payment 1 Free On Payment I ------1------,------18,716 National Museum of Archaeology ... 20,630 3,124 1- 5,436 National Museum of Fine Arts ...... 8,147 2,817 8,619 4,185 National M useum of Natural History ... 15,298 11,716 14,520 14,957 Palace Armoury ...... 28,130 10,847 27,347 9,215* Museum of Roman Antiquities ...... 21,909 6,791 20,203 8,542 St Paul's Catacombs ...... 38,312 4,382 40,498 6,662 Mal Saflieni Hypogeum . . ... 24,119 5,739 26,335 10,352 Tarxien Temples ...... 17,817 5,067 19,198 8,006 Gliar Dalam Cave and Museum .. . .. 14,549 5,250 17,662 8,655 Inquisitor's Palace ...... 2,199 1,503 2,813 1,573 Hagar Qim ...... 16,847 Gozo Museum ...... 7,794 1,249 9,997 2,033 Ggantija Temples ...... 49,800 1,927 39,699 5,382 General Day Tickets ...... ,__ 12_ 7_,0_8_8 ---=---. 152,99~ ,__ -__ Total .. . 375,792 I 60,412 398,597 101,845 ------1------l------Total admission f ees collected ... £M22,774.12,5 £M23,624.04,5

* Inclusive of 2.638 visitors admitted during the 8th September Exhibition. NOTE: Admission to museums and monuments on Sunday was made free of charge with effect from 25 September 1977 in terms of Legal Notice 726 of 1977.