European Commissioner Elisa Ferreira, during her visit to Malta yesterday, visited a number of projects carried out with European funds from the 2014-2020 program.
One of the projects that the European Commissioner visited was that of Ta’ Qali Crafts Village, which is an attraction tourism that promotes Maltese handicrafts. With an investment of €13 million, of which €7.8 million are European funds, this project has given life back to this area and helped businesses continue to grow and hire more jobs.
Minister Silvio Schembri said that with the help of European funds, infrastructural works were carried out in the Crafts Village that beautified and made the place more accessible, which today is a unique tourist attraction. In the coming weeks the Crafts Village will be opening an Incubation Center which will serve as a base from which the skill of Maltese artisans will be taught to our youth.
A start-up center will also be built which will offer space for initiatives and new artisans, as well as a center which will be built for the crafts that are being lost to continue encouraging more interest among our youth towards handicrafts.
European Commissioner Ferreira also visited the ongoing works on the 9.5 kilometer tunnel that connects together with the Reverse Osmosis plant in Pembroke with the water reservoirs in Ta’ Qali. The Corporation for Water Services has reached the last phase of this project as 94% of this project is now complete.
With an investment of €36 million co-financed by the European Union this project will improve water distribution from this plant with larger pipes, which means efficiency will increase and pumping costs will decrease as opposed to smaller pipes that are currently used. With this project the Corporation will be able to better mix the water generated from the Pembroke plant to the ground water, thus significantly improving the quality of the water that reaches the customers in houses and other buildings in Malta.
Minister Miriam Dalli said that “With an investment of €36 million partially financed by the European Union, the A corporation is working to offer the highest quality water to its customers, in a sustainable way, without negative impacts on the environment. We are doing this through modern and non-polluting technology, which increases the operational efficiency and reduce waste. In this way we continue to ensure a better service to families and businesses in our country.”
Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds Chris Bonett said that the visit of the European Commissioner Ferreira to Malta continued to send a strong message of the excellent work that exists between the European Commission and the Maltese Government. Parliamentary Secretary Bonett claimed that the European Commission knows that the Maltese Government always use the European funds in the best interest for the Maltese and Gozitan people.
