Nationalist MP Alex Borg has drawn up his own plans to replace a contentious social housing development the government is about to start building on the outskirts of Victoria, but the Gozo minister will not budge and is determined to go ahead with the original plans.

I will continue to work so that this bad dream turns into a beautiful reality- PN MP Alex Borg

Minister Clint Camilleri posted the project’s site plan on Facebook to defend the development in the area known as Taċ-Ċawla. Borg, who is the PN’s spokesperson for Gozo, posted his own site plan along with some renders of the reimagined space, urging the government to ditch its plans and adopt his alternative instead.

Borg’s plan eliminates an eight-apartment housing block meant to be erected in the middle of an open space and which has been the bone of contention of the entire development and suggests the construction of five social housing blocks containing 30 new apartments in Xewkija instead.

It also proposes an underground car park, a boċċi club and proposes that the Taċ-Ċawla area be transformed into a large public open space.

But the minister is sticking to his guns, arguing the government’s plans already respect the environment and embellish the public space and insisted that Borg’s plans are rushed and lay bare the PN’s inconsistency and lack of vision.

The government got the green light from the Planning Authority in 2019 to build an eight-apartment social housing block and embellish the surrounding area in Taċ-Ċawla, a Labour stronghold neighbourhood.

Petition against project

Construction works are about to start but Borg, the PN and several residents want the government to drop the plans, arguing that the development ruins the “last remaining open space” in the area.

Borg has been spearheading a campaign among residents, several of whom also signed a petition sent to the prime minister, the Gozo minister and several authorities.

But Camilleri said the new housing block will only take up a fraction of the area and the rest of the space will be embellished and enhanced as an open public space, with a football pitch, an outdoor gym and a playing field.

Borg said the housing block should instead be relocated to an area in Xewkija known as It-Taflija, where there is enough space for five blocks containing 30 apartments and where the government has previously failed to deliver on past promises.

“We are not against social accommodation, and I am not doing this for votes. I will continue to work so that this bad dream turns into a beautiful reality as we’re proposing it," Borg said.

Plans there to stay

Asked by Times of Malta whether he intends to take on at least some of Borg’s suggestions, the Gozo minister indicated the government’s original plans are there to stay.

Over the past years, the PN appeared keen on seeing the project take off but when the works were about to begin, the opposition embarked on a campaign based on the wrong information, Camilleri said.

The minister said the project will regenerate the area while reaching two of the government’s main goals – to modernise public space and add social housing.

“Borg is attempting to mislead people into thinking that all the open space will be built up.”

Camilleri also criticised Borg for being ‘inconsistent’, saying that what he considers bad for the residents of Taċ-Ċawla suddenly became good for the residents of Xewkija, because he wants a way larger housing area developed on untouched land.

“Also, the area where Borg is proposing the new housing blocks is earmarked for micro enterprises in the local plans,” Camilleri said.