‘It Was Where She Used To Play’: Sliema Mayor Opens Up About Daphne Caruana Galizia Memorial
Sliema Mayor Graziella Attard Previ has opened up about the significance of the location of the new Daphne Caruana Galizia memorial, unveiled on 12th March.
The memorial has been established to honour the memory of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, known to have fought corruption in Malta tooth and nail.
It takes the form of a plaque and a bay leaf tree, both of which have been set up at Fond Għadir, on the Sliema promenade, four years after her murder.
Lovin Malta reached out to Attard Previ, who said that the idea began in mid-January, after a Facebook post from Mandy Mallia – Daphne Caruana Galizia’s sister, called for an official memorial was made.
“As soon as I saw it, I contacted her immediately and said that I was going to present it in the next council meeting, which took place in the second week of February. It was approved outright,” Attard Previ said.
“Although it was approved it wasn’t overtly advertised. The marble had a ‘carte blanche’ as to what would be written upon it.”
“The bay leaf tree was also a point of note, owing to its significance of strength, courage, and wisdom. For the family, this was the most important thing.”
Daphne spent much of her youth in Sliema, which made it just as fitting for her memorial to take up a spot in a place she was known to frequent very often in those days.
“We took the family, Mandy, to the site to find the ideal place. It was the area where Daphne used to play. An area she used to frequent as a child.”
“These things are ‘little things’, but they carry a great significance to the family, who watched her grow there.”
Attard Previ was immediately behind the completion of the project from the moment she came to be aware of it and went on to state that she found nothing but support to see the structure completed in a timely manner.
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