Mepa chairman Vince Cassar named president of Commonwealth Association of Architects

Mepa chairman architect Vincent Cassar has been named the next president of the Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA).

At a ceremony held at Lahore, Pakistan on Friday, 4th March 2016, Perit Vincent Cassar took over as the next President of the Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA) for the period 2016-2019. This followed a period of three years (2013-2016) as Senior Vice-President of the same Association to which post he was elected in 2013.

Cassar succeeds Architect Rukshan Widyalankara of Sri Lanka who served as President from 2013-2016 and who will now sit on the CAA Council as the Immediate Past President.

The CAA, which had its first meeting in Malta in 1965 and thus celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, is made up of organizations that represent the body of architects in Member Countries of the Commonwealth. The local Kamra tal-Periti, of which Cassar is a former President, is a full member of the CAA.

The Council of the Association was present in Malta during CHOGM 2015 and took an active part in the events held during the meeting.

Cassar, a graduate in Architecture and Civil Engineering from the University of Malta, joined the Public Service in 1973 as a Junior Architect and Civil Engineer with the then Public Works Department and was assigned to the Schools and Hospitals Section. Since then he has worked within other sections of the Public Works organization and was responsible for various projects including those for housing, healthcare and hospitals, and other major projects of a civil engineering nature such as roads and marine works.

Such large-scale projects included the design and construction of the Karen Grech Paediatric Hospital and its adjoining Maternity complex, and the construction of Terminal I at the Malta Freeport Container Terminal and the Luqa Air Terminal.

With the reorganization of the Public Works in 1992 into the Works Division made up of a number of Departments, Perit Cassar was appointed as its first Director General, a position be actively occupied till 2003. During this period the Works Division saw a number of transformations and improvements within its structures and was responsible for the carrying out of a number of projects all over Malta and Gozo.

Following the Malta General Elections in April 2003 Cassar was appointed as the Permanent Secretary within the Ministry for Youth and the Arts which portfolio included all aspects related to Youth, Sport, the Arts, Theatre, Music and Cultural Heritage. With a change in premiership in February 2004 and the establishment of the Ministry for Urban Development and Roads, responsible for urban development and land transport, he assumed the responsibility for that Ministry as its Permanent Secretary.

Cassar retired from government service in June 2008.

Cassar is a Fellow of the Institute of Civil Engineers (FICE) and a Fellow of the Institute of Health Estate Engineering Management (FIHEEM). He is a past President of the Rotary Club La Valette, former Chief Scout of the Scout Association of Malta and former President of the Kamra tal-Periti.

He has also previously served as a member of the Executive Board of the Architects Council of Europe as its Treasurer and Co-ordinator for Thematic Area ‘Environment and Sustainability’  besides representing the Kamra tal-Periti in the European Council of Civil Engineers.