Minister for Social Accommodation Roderick Galdes attended a business breakfast held at a hotel in St Julian’s during which sustainability in urban and residential areas was discussed. This event was organised by the Housing Development Fund, which forms part of the Housing Authority.
Minister Roderick Galdes stated that the state must set an example and that, “The restoration and regeneration of old and derelict buildings, the initiatives to create greener urban and residential areas, together with the efforts we have made as a ministry and through the Housing Authority to nurture open spaces, testify to our commitment to this cause. However, the state cannot act alone. Anyone who participates in a community should contribute to the sustainability of the spaces we share.”
A panel of speakers from different fields spoke at the event. These included Pro Rector of the University of Malta Prof. Tanya Sammut Bonnici, the Housing Authority’s CEO Leonid McKay, Director General of the Foundation for Transport Jeannette Axisa, Jean Paul Mifsud on behalf of Valletta Garden City, and Mario Cassar, a prominent designer and architect. Zach Ciappara, CEO of Freehour, moderated the panel discussion. Charmaine Mangion, the Chairperson of the Housing Development Fund and Karl Tonna, a member of the Housing Development Fund’s administrative committee, gave a presentation on the subject and the operations of the fund.
“It is always difficult to separate the strictly commercial pursuits from what we’d usually understand as residential activities in our towns and cities, and therefore the responsibility to make the areas where we live more sustainable is one that we must carry together as equal partners in this process”, concluded Minister Galdes.
Malta Enterprise CEO Kurt Farrugia was also present at this event and stated that, “Two years ago when we sat down to see what strategy we need to adopt, we shifted our thinking around to look at a more sustainable economic model. When we assess the economic thinking and the decisions we make related to schemes and how we apply them, we specify how to improve and how we will be better off with the impact of that project, not only economically and in terms of numbers, but also in terms of the quality of life.”
“We have to understand that we all live closely to each other, so we have to see that for every action we will have a reaction that will impact our society. While the government makes the decisions and invests the money so that the impact on society is a positive one, at the same time, the business and social world must see that their decisions will affect society both environmentally and socially in a positive way”, concluded Kurt Farrugia.
Photos: MSA
