Local councils in Malta can now tap into a €10 million infrastructure fund for their towns and villages.   

The fund, which is being managed by the Public Works Department, was announced on Friday, two months before Malta elects new local councils.  

Besides funding projects, the public works department will help administer the bureaucratic processes of local council projects.  

“Part of the issue is funding, but a bigger problem is the administrative weight on local councils,” public works junior minister Omar Farrugia said. 

A €10,000 tender has almost the same amount of paperwork as a much bigger project, he said.  

While the local councils will decide where and how the money is spent, public works will take over the administrative burden, Farrugia said.  

“We are centralising what is a burden and giving you more power in planning and implementation,” Farrugia said, addressing mayors and local councillors. 

A memorandum of understanding was signed between the central government and all of Malta’s local councils.

Local councils in Gozo were not included in the scheme. 

Some of the works financed through the fund will be done directly by the public works department while other projects will be outsourced, he said. 

Around 50 private operators have signed a framework agreement to conduct the work when needed.

Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Robert Abela said that infrastructural works need to promote mobility for the elderly and those with disabilities.  

Several cabinet ministers attended the event.