Imposing monument for the Virgin Mary proposed on Fgura roundabout

The Fgura local council has presented plans for the erection of a 15-metre-high religious monument dedicated to the locality’s patron saint, Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

According to the drawings submitted in the planning application, the monument will rise 15 metres above street level, roughly the height of a four- to five-storey building.

It consists of a white, lean 9.5-metre Corinthian column on a 1.5-metre pedestal topped by a 3-metre statue of the Madonna.

A time capsule is also being proposed in the monument’s pedestal.

The new monument on the roundabout opposite the Tip Top and Crosscraft showrooms will replace another smaller secular monument depicting the coat of arms of the locality. The present monument will be moved to another roundabout in Triq id-Dejma.

The erection of the statue and pedestal was unanimously approved by the local council in October.

The council had previously appointed a board entrusted with finding a suitable location for the monument.

However, some divergent opinions were expressed regarding the direction the monument should face. Mayor Clayton Cascun Portelli, who had initially favoured positioning the monument to face the locality’s church, abided by the board’s recommendation that it should instead face Paola.

When a vote was taken, four councillors, including the mayor, voted for the Madonna to face Paola, while two, including minority leader and PN councillor Charles Bonello and PL councillor Adrian Tanti, voted for it to face the locality’s church.