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MaltaToday 3 November 2024

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4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 NOVEMBER 2024 NEWS LOGISTICS UNIT MINISTRY FOR EDUCATION, SPORT, YOUTH, RESEARCH AND INNOVATION VACANCY HEALTH & SAFETY OFFICER HEALTH & SAFETY OFFICER APPLY NOW GVERN TA' MALTA MINISTERU GHALLEDUKAZZJONI, LISPORT, IZZGHAZAGH, IRRICERKA U LINNOVAZZJONI CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE Among the objectives of the review is to reconfigure the boundaries of the sub-zones within the area and to establish the allowable building heights for each sub-zone. This sparked outrage among civil society and within the prime minister's own Cabinet. When asked about the Villa Rosa decision, Caruana said he understands that such decisions put people off and could impact the credibility of the govern- ment. He stood by the slogan of his budget speech – 'Moving to- wards a country of quality' – but put the responsibility of its im- plementation on the govern- ment as a whole. "The Budget speech was clear, now it's up to the government as to whether to move in that direction or not. If the govern- ment doesn't hear the people's call from last June, then it's up to the government to face the con- sequences," he said. Caruana added: "I'm part of the government. I'm not the entire government. As I'm doing now in this interview, I have no prob- lem expressing my opinion. If the government says one thing and does another, it can only lose its credibility." Looking beyond Malta Caruana agreed that the way certain economic actors behave can appear contradictory. He said businessmen are free to in- vest and develop as they wish, but the country's resources and limitations need to be kept in mind. "We've reached a point where some industries may have to look beyond Malta's shores to avoid saturating the local market. This would allow us to bring the prof- its of foreign investments back to Malta," he said. Caruana admitted he finds areas like Paceville suffocating, and he wonders whether all the high-ris- es in the area might bring down the quality of the place. How the Ukrainian war put a spanner in the works One of Labour's 2022 elector- al pledges was a €700 million investment in urban greening projects, spearheaded by a new government agency called Pro- ject Green. However, progress has been stagnant on these pro- jects. "The Ukrainian war had a significant impact on the gov- ernment's work. We took a hit from the explosion in energy prices, and that took up a lot of our resources. The government absorbed at least a billion euros. That's a huge amount of money. And like everything in life, in these circumstances you need to set your priorities," he said. Caruana added that prioritis- ing energy and fuel stability was important to keep the economy going. "Now that energy prices are falling, although still high, we can continue our work," he said. Caruana noted that Project Green has a €30 million alloca- tion of funds for next year, in- tended for several projects. He said he understands people's frustrations on the projects' delays, but the financial prior- ity for the government since 2022 was to stabilise energy prices. "I used to tell my colleagues – if we don't subsidise energy prices, I assure you that people will only be talking about ener- gy prices. The main priority for the country is to maintain sta- bility in energy prices," he said. This is the first time that a government minister has pub- licly acknowledged that pro- gress on several projects to shift main roads underground and build gardens above them were stalled because of finan- cial considerations. The pro- jects, which formed part of the 2022 election manifesto, included roofing over a part of the approach road to the San- ta Venera tunnels, and build- ing tunnels for traffic to pass through in St Anne Street in Floriana and San Gwann. The latter two projects have been scrapped. 'If the government says one thing and does another, it can only lose its credibility' The Planning Authority opened a public consultation to change the local plan for the Villa Rosa site in St Julian's

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