At the time of a pandemic upsetting the whole world order, menacing health systems and undermining economies everywhere, it is highly significant that here in Malta we have a government still resolutely committed to providing a better quality of life to people in our towns and villages.

Cynics may wrongly attribute this to the proximity of the next general election but we all know this has been an ongoing process, started in 2013 and amplified since 2017 and is now focusing on bringing to fruition local and regional projects specifically aimed at upgrading the quality of life of our hard-working communities across these islands.

In harmony with the vast improvement of our roads network through huge and often challenging infrastructural projects, such as those at Marsa and the Central Link, that quality upgrade is being achieved by ridding our locali­ties of the environmental sores that have plagued them for decades.

The recent removal of the March 31 Oil Tanks at Birżebbuġa, for example, was one such move that is destined to give that popular southern town’s resi­dents and its thousands of summer visitors a reprieve from the many years – incredibly, since colonial times – of the health, noise and pollution hazards it posed on a daily basis.

Another recent major environmental breakthrough that is bound to promote a better quality of life for people and their families in the Żurrieq area and its surrounding villages was that of Wied Fulija.

As this very newspaper reported, this was a project that helped transform Wied Fulija from a dumping ground for two billion kilograms of waste to a recreational park, a green area full of endemic trees contributing to better air quality and improving biodiversity and, hence, no longer an environmental scar on that beautiful part of the island.

It is no longer a question of politicians making cut-and-paste promises every five years, as, sadly, was the story for decades- Julia Farrugia Portelli

Quality of life is, of course, not restricted to the many environmental and embellishment projects completed or that are in hand at already existing open spaces in our towns and villages. With the help of SportMalta, several other open spaces have been identified within various localities where the introduction of open-air physical exercise facilities would go a long way towards that very same aim.

As I said at the inauguration of the €17,000 investment by the Ministry for Inclusion and Quality of Life that helped turn a part of the Żurrieq Reservoir Garden into such a beneficial facility, “in such a busy life we ​​live it is important finding time for a little physical exercise, not only for children but also for parents. Exercise and physical health are instrumental to human health, both physically and mentally.”

A similar project, with the help of the Parliamentary Secretariat for Sport, Recreation and Voluntary Organisations, SportMalta and local councils, has been carried out at Mqabba where a part of the Children’s Garden has been transformed into a physical exercise facility, with the provision of gym machines and general landscaping, the main beneficiaries being the village’s children and their families.

No one should get the impression we are now in a position to rest on our laurels. The large number of similar on-going projects in both Malta and Gozo is testament to our continued commitment to an overall, long-needed boost in the quality of life for everyone.

It is no longer a question of politicians making cut-and-paste promises every five years, as, sadly, was the story for decades, but the very real fulfilment of an electoral platform approved by the people and confirmed and implemented for the people.

There is no better way of achieving this further than by a government binding itself to keep the momentum going, as our current work on the Budget 2022 will, no doubt, show.