Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1516790
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 MARCH 2024 6 INTERVIEW Miriam Dalli on the PL deputy leadership: 'When the time comes, we will see' ENVIRONMENT Minister Miriam Dalli insists Project Green is not mere- ly a greenwashing exercise. The lack of visible progress, she says, should not be misinterpreted as procrastination. "Project Green has been running for around a year and has launched and com- pleted a number of smaller projects which could be finished quicker, but this does mean that work did not progress on the bigger projects promised during the elec- tion," the minister says in an interview with MaltaToday. The environment and open spaces have become a bigger priority for the elector- ate, and Labour sought to address these concerns during the 2022 general election through its flagship proposal – Project Green. Artistic impressions of several ma- jor projects revealed how main roads in some localities would pass through tunnels to make space for gardens above them. The San Gwann main road, Floriana's St Anne Street, the roofing over of the Santa Venera tunnels approach roads and the transformation 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 urban environment greener. Fielding questions on what some have interpreted as slow progress on these big projects, the minister insists background work is ongoing on several projects. "At the beginning, you always have a pe- riod of setting up and establishing the pro- jects. Once you get the necessary permits, the work picks up pace. If we are speaking about the San Ġwann project, the first per- mit for the car park has already been filed with the Planning Authority (PA), so that work can then be carried out. In Borm- la, an area which was to be turned into a dormitory, will be turned into a park with an underlying car park, with permits also filed with the PA. For the Santa Venera project, we are analysing traffic manage- ment there, as the area must be closed off, and the same for St Anne Street in Floria- na," she says. Switching focus to the energy sector, the minister says the increased year-on-year energy demand of the country, means the new 60MW "temporary" diesel-powered emergency plant in Delimara is crucial to guaranteeing security of energy supply in summer. Dalli says while demand had been in- creasing by a yearly rate of around 3.5%, during last summer's heatwave it shot up by 14%, lifting the demand to 663MW. "The electricity provision of the country is around 800MW, but we want to ensure security of supply when something hap- pens," she says. The minister also points out that government has invested heavily in upgrading the electricity distribution infrastructure country wide. With a deputy leadership race on the ho- rizon for Labour, the minister is coy when asked whether she will put her hat in the ring. "When the time comes, we will see," she replies. Miriam Dalli faced a red-hot summer in 2023 as the country suffered repeated electricity outages in the midst of a heatwave. The environment and energy minister now tells KARL AZZOPARDI that a lot of investment has since gone into strengthening the distribution system. She also speaks about Project Green and the impending PL deputy leadership race.