Minister for Gozo Clint Camilleri together with Minister for European Funds, Social Dialogue and Consumer Protection Keith Azzopardi Tanti inaugurated the ecological restoration project on Għolja ta’ Għammar, near the Ta’ Pinu Sanctuary, Gozo. This project with a total value of one million euros is co-financed by European funds.
Minister Clint Camilleri stated that “in the first 100 days of the new Legislature, we implemented the promise of the ecological restoration project on Għolja ta’ Għammar. In agreement with the Curia administration, the Ministry entered into a commitment on Church land to regenerate this area which over the years had fallen into a dilapidated state and eventually provided an open green space. This project involved the rehabilitation and ecological restoration of part of Għolja ta’ Għammar over an area of approximately 8,500 square metres, 7 and a half tomniet, which will be providing the desired habitat for local biodiversity.”
For his part, Minister Keith Azzopardi Tanti said that “the success of European Funds is not measured only by how much funding we manage to obtain for Malta and Gozo, but by how we use them to respond to the needs of our country and leave lasting value. This project is a concrete example of how European funding is helping us protect the landscape, safeguard the environment and preserve an important part of the Maltese and Gozitan rural identity for generations to come.”
The Administrative Secretary of the Curia Anthony Bezzina explained that this collaboration between the Government and the Church is leading to a more sustainable Gozo, with a more resilient economy in this case through investment in the tourist product for Religious Tourism, a stronger society through more quality open spaces and a more protected environment through investment in the protection of our island’s natural resources.
The interventions in this project involved the reconstruction of approximately 1,700 cubic metres of rubble walls, the regeneration of the soil to provide a suitable environment for planting, the planting of approximately 1,000 endemic trees which will be followed by the planting of approximately 3,000 endemic shrubs and, a number of mechanical and electrical services including the installation of an irrigation system for the necessary watering.
Photos: MFG/MFDC
