Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1515076
18 ANALYSIS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 JANUARY 2024 THE Labour Party was elected in 2022 on a programme that con- tained 1,000 proposals but its flagship was the grandiose plan to create green urban spaces. Artistic impressions of sever- al major projects revealed how main roads in some localities would pass through tunnels to make space for gardens above them. The San Gwann main road, Flo- riana's St Anne Street, the roofing over of the Santa Venera tunnels approach roads and the transfor- mation of the milk factory site in Hamrun into a big garden were some of the projects unveiled at the time. The PL election pledge was to spend €700 million over seven years to make Malta's ur- ban environment greener. It was in January 2023 that the Environment Ministry under Miriam Dalli formally set up a new agency called Project Green to take ownership of this elector- al pledge. Project Green took over valley management works, the Inwa- dar national park in Marsaskala, and all urban greening projects. Its initial budget was €13 million, doubling to €25 million this year. Project Green got involved in several projects, however, not all concerned new green spaces. In- deed, most of the jobs the agency has done until now concern ex- tensions to already existing open spaces or revamping of exist- ing gardens with the planting of more trees, garden furniture and more accessible footpaths. Information tabled in parlia- ment by Dalli in a reply to Na- tionalist Party MP Darren Car- abott, gave an overview of the projects the agency is involved in and the stage they are at. A third of projects are valley rehabilitation MaltaToday found that 36.6% of the projects under Project Green's belt were entirely fo- cused on the rehabilitation of valleys. The information tabled in parliament shows that 22 of the projects listed involve inter- ventions in a number of valleys across Malta. According to past press releas- es, the interventions in valleys include the collection of dumped waste, with more than 2,000 tonnes collected. In fact, according to Pro- ject Green's website, the entity formed part of the environment ministry's third edition of the Is- lands Cleanup, which is a yearly cleanup campaign. Project Green is also responsible for revitalising valleys across the country. The valleys that got the Project Green treatment include, Wied tal-Ħmieri in Burmarrad, Wied Għajn Mula in Mosta, Rabat's Wied il-Fiddien and Wied Qirda in Ħaż-Żebbuġ. In total, Project Green spent €3,672,239 on works involving valleys. Upgrades to existing spaces From the 60 projects initiated by Project Green, 28% of them in- volve embellishments, extensions and upgrades of existing spaces. In this analysis they could not be considered "new" open spaces. For instance, in September of 2023, Project Green announced that it had submitted an applica- tion to the Planning Authority to restore the Presidential Gardens in San Anton Palace, which have been open to the public since the 19th Century. According to the information tabled in parliament, €4.7 million have been dedicated to this project. Another example is San Kle- ment Park in Żabbar, which is listed twice in the list provided by the Environment Ministry. First- ly, San Klement Park was extend- ed by Project Green in February 2023, one of the first projects completed by the agency at a cost of €62,000. A further €218,000 was spent by Project Green last December, after it opened an ob- stacle racecourse in the park. Upon completion of San Kle- ment's extension, the agency stated that, "with this project, around 11,000 residents will have a green open space in less than 10 minutes walking distance from their residence," even though this park was already available before Project Green's existence. Other previously existing pro- jects which have undergone re- furbishment or are yet to undergo refurbishment by Project Green include Birżebbuġa's Ġnien l-In- dipendenza, Gudja's Ġnien iż- Żgħażagħ and Ġnien Kottoner in Bormla. In total, €14,316,222 was spent on upgrades, extensions and re- furbishment of existing spaces. New open spaces In total, eight from the 60 pro- jects listed are new open spaces. One of the most ambitious projects is the Bengħajsa Family Park in Birżebbuġa. Even though regeneration works on the land One year of Project Green: A new hope for The Labour government's f lagship project to make Malta greener was entrusted to the new entity Project Green. One year after the agency was formed, MATTHEW FARRUGIA and MATTHEW VELLA look at the projects it was involved in. Top: Vjal ir-Rihan in San Gwann; Above: San Klement, Zabbar