Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1532462
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 FEBRUARY 2025 NEWS NICOLE MEILAK nmeilak@mediatoday.com.mt KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Fully qualified with ACCA or equivalent (being warranted as an accountant is a plus). Minimum 2-3 years of financial experience in a similar role. Experience in financial operations, cost analysis, and reporting within an operational or service-based industry. Strong communication skills in written and spoken English. CV to be provided by 28 th February to ja@greenmt.org Vacancy | Financial Controller PROJECT Green may have to change its plans to create a rec- reational park in Siggiewi after a farmer claims to have been tilling the land for 35 years. In September, Project Green ap- plied to transform 17,039sq.m of agricultural land in Siggiewi into a recreational park. The site is lo- cated within a predominantly ru- ral landscape, 65m away from the scheduled Qrendi airfield. According to the application, Project Green intended to plant new trees and shrubs, add path- ways, create underlying reservoirs, and establish gardening allot- ments. However, their plans will need to be revised after a farmer objected, stating that he has been cultivating the area for decades. The land is government-owned and the farm- er appears to have no legal title to it. "The proposed development shall remove this agricultural land and soil, which has been cultivat- ed to produce crops by the Vella Brothers for the last 35 years," the objection states. The farmer argued that the pro- posed development should not be located in a rural area outside of Malta's development zone. Perit Beverley Costa, the ar- chitect listed on the application, informed MaltaToday that after conducting the required checks with the relevant authorities, it was confirmed that the land is govern- ment-owned and not leased to any third parties. She further clarified that during the initial site analysis for the proposal, no agricultural activity was observed. It was only in recent days that Project Green was made aware by an objector to the PA application, that the land was being cultivat- ed by a third party. In light of this discovery, they are now explor- ing ways to address the situation. Project Green has no intention of taking over land that is actively used for agriculture, as this would directly conflict with the core ob- jectives of the proposal. Nationalist MP Toni Bezzina raised the issue during a speech in parliament on Thursday. He expressed concern that the ap- plication could lead to a situation where, instead of allocating agri- cultural land to genuine farmers for local production, the govern- ment would instead take land away from these farmers for recre- ational use. "While we have genuine farmers and livestock breeders—especially young ones—who are struggling to acquire agricultural land to ex- pand their operations or even start their agricultural activities, the government, rather than support- ing them, is undermining them and depriving them of what is rightfully beneficial for their agri- cultural work." Project Green's park plans in doubt after farmer claims 35 years of cultivation Mosta and Paola health centres saw most patients in 2024 THE Mosta and Paola health centres saw more than 200,000 people each last year, including emergency cases and outpatient appointments, information tabled in parliament shows. The Mosta health centre re- ceived 101,070 patients who sought emergency treatment in 2024. The health centre also had 93,790 visitors who had outpa- tient appointments. Meanwhile, the Paola health centre saw 94,220 people who sought emergency assistance and 125,260 visitors who had outpa- tient appointments. The Mosta and Paola health centres are by far the busiest from the 10 regional facilities across the islands. Nine of the health centres are in situated in Malta – Birkirka- ra, Mosta, Bormla, Floriana, Gzira, Kirkop, Paola, Qormi and Rabat – and one in Gozo – Victoria. The information was tabled by Health Minister Jo Etienne Ab- ela in response to parliamentary questions by Opposition health spokesperson Adrian Delia. The Floriana health centre was the third most visited facility after Mosta and Paola for emergency cases last year with 73,130 people making use of the service, followed by Gzira with 60,050 people. In terms of outpatient appoint- ments, after Paola and Mosta, the Birkirkara and Gzira centres had the highest number of visitors with 61,040 and 60,990 respec- tively. A month-by-month breakdown of emergency calls shows that July and October were the two months with the highest number of pa- tient visits across the majority of health centres. A new, bigger health centre in Paola dubbed by the Health Min- ister as a small hospital and which is set to replace the old facility situated in the main square, has still not opened its doors yet de- spite being finished. Works on the facility were beset by delays and legal wrangling. The government eventually cancelled the contract last October. The Health Minister told par- liament last week the authorities were awaiting the completion of certification of all medical equip- ment installed before opening the health hub but gave no date for its opening. Named after the late Censu Mo- ran, a Paola resident and a for- mer Labour health minister, the Paola hub is expected to cater for around 130,000 patients. Meanwhile, the government has cancelled previous plans to open a second big regional facility to cater for the north of Malta. Such a facility was earmarked for St Paul's Bay. The Mosta and Paola health centres are by far the busiest from the 10 regional facilities when considering both emergency cases and outpatient appointments The Siggiewi site marked in blue