{"id":53040,"date":"2025-11-08T16:11:36","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T15:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/?p=53040"},"modified":"2025-11-08T16:11:36","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T15:11:36","slug":"government-completes-purchase-of-the-kings-own-band-cl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/08\/government-completes-purchase-of-the-kings-own-band-cl\/","title":{"rendered":"Government completes purchase of the King\u2019s Own Band cl"},"content":{"rendered":"<h6><strong><span style=\"background-color: #ffff00;\">The government has completed the \u20ac7.4 million purchase of the King\u2019s Own Band Club premises in Valletta part of a wider \u20ac30 million investment to safeguard Malta\u2019s traditional band clubs.<\/span><\/strong><\/h6>\n<p><span class=\"HwtZe\" lang=\"en\"><span class=\"jCAhz ChMk0b\"><span class=\"ryNqvb\">\u00a0A few days after the presentation of the 2026 Budget, the Ministry for Culture, Lands and Local Government definitively concluded the process of purchasing the headquarters of the King\u2019s Own Valletta Band.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"HwtZe\" lang=\"en\"><span class=\"jCAhz\"><span class=\"ryNqvb\">This society was at real and serious risk of facing eviction from its headquarters due to the legal situation related to pre-1995 leases.<\/span><\/span><span class=\"jCAhz\"><span class=\"ryNqvb\"> In total, the Ministry invested \u20ac7.4 million for the acquisition of the property as payment for the purchase of the building and as well as \u20ac1.8 million representing payment of damages to the owners according to the law.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"HwtZe\" lang=\"en\"><span class=\"jCAhz\"><span class=\"ryNqvb\">This brings the number of musical society seats that the Ministry has definitively concluded the purchase process to 13, and to these must be added another property that is still under contract, the club of the Madonna of Pompeii Society in Marsaxlokk, for which a final contract must be drawn up.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"HwtZe\" lang=\"en\"><span class=\"jCAhz ChMk0b\"><span class=\"ryNqvb\">Minister for Culture, Lands and Local Government Owen Bonnici said \u201cToday we are bringing peace of mind to another historic Society that for many years was a pillar of the Maltese Festa. The Government is ensuring that this property continues to be used for the good of the community and culture. Never before has a Government invested so much in the Festas \u2013 with more than \u20ac30 million to save 14 band clubs, with the Festas also being recognised by UNESCO as an Intangible World Heritage Site.\u201d<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"HwtZe\" lang=\"en\"><span class=\"jCAhz ChMk0b\"><span class=\"ryNqvb\">\u201cAll of this shows how much this Government believes in our cultural heritage and in the strength of Maltese identity \u2013 all of this is possible because Malta has a solid and strong economy,\u201d concluded Minister Bonnici.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"HwtZe\" lang=\"en\"><span class=\"jCAhz ChMk0b\"><span class=\"ryNqvb\">The thirteen clubs of musical societies that have been conclusively purchased by the Ministry so far are: the San Gejtanu Music Society AD 1906, the Marija Re\u0121ina Marsa Musical Society A.D. 1977, the Stella Levantina Musical Society of Attard, the Circolo San Giuseppe Filarmonika Sagra Familja of Kalkara, the Santa Liena Banda Duke of Connaught\u2019s Own Society of Birkirkara, the Antoine de Paule Musical Society of Paola, the Stella Maris Musical Society of Tas-Sliema, the San Pietru fil-Ktajjen Musical Society of Bir\u017cebbu\u0121a, the Anici Socio-Musical Society of Qormi,<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"jCAhz ChMk0b\"><span class=\"ryNqvb\">the headquarters of the Santa Marija Philharmonic Society in Mosta, the headquarters of the Sant\u2019Andrija Society in Lija and the headquarters of the 12th May Band in \u017bebbu\u0121.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"HwtZe\" lang=\"en\"><span class=\"jCAhz ChMk0b\"><span class=\"ryNqvb\"> In total, the Ministry is expected to invest a total of \u20ac30 million when one considers the amount that has already been invested in the acquisition of the thirteen properties mentioned and the amount that must be spent when one considers that there is the headquarters of the Madonna of Pompei in Marsaxlokk for which a final contract has yet to be concluded.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_53040\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"53040\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path d=\"M1163 3073 c-36 -7 -73 -59 -73 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class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-53040","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b.jpeg",432,300,false],"thumbnail":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b-150x104.jpeg",150,104,true],"medium":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b-300x208.jpeg",300,208,true],"medium_large":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b.jpeg",432,300,false],"large":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b.jpeg",432,300,false],"1536x1536":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b.jpeg",432,300,false],"2048x2048":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b.jpeg",432,300,false],"td_0x420":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b.jpeg",432,300,false],"td_80x60":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b-80x60.jpeg",80,60,true],"td_218x150":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b-218x150.jpeg",218,150,true],"td_324x400":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b-324x300.jpeg",324,300,true],"td_696x0":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b.jpeg",432,300,false],"td_1068x0":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b.jpeg",432,300,false],"td_100x70":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b-100x70.jpeg",100,70,true],"td_265x198":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b-265x198.jpeg",265,198,true],"td_324x160":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b-324x160.jpeg",324,160,true],"td_324x235":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b-324x235.jpeg",324,235,true],"td_356x220":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b-356x220.jpeg",356,220,true],"td_356x364":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b-356x300.jpeg",356,300,true],"td_533x261":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b-432x261.jpeg",432,261,true],"td_534x462":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b.jpeg",432,300,false],"td_696x385":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b.jpeg",432,300,false],"td_741x486":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b.jpeg",432,300,false],"td_1068x580":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PR251987b.jpeg",432,300,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Bernard Lynch","author_link":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/author\/bernardlynch\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The government has completed the \u20ac7.4 million purchase of the King\u2019s Own Band Club premises in Valletta part of a wider \u20ac30 million investment to safeguard Malta\u2019s traditional band clubs. \u00a0A few days after the presentation of the 2026 Budget, the Ministry for Culture, Lands and Local Government definitively concluded the process of purchasing the&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53040"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53042,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53040\/revisions\/53042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}