Malta will again participate in the EU’s ‘European Aid to the Most Deprived’ scheme, helping thousands of Maltese citizens on the breadline.

Shadow ministers Paula Mifsud Bonnici and Roberta Metsola said in a statement this morning that Malta has been allocated close to €4 million for the 2014-2020 period.

The last programme using EU funds, they said, was operational under a PN-led administration and was forced to come to a halt last February.

The implementation of the scheme, approved in December last year, was delayed due to technical problems encountered during the tender for the provision, packaging and delivery of food and the call for Partners Organisations, as none of the bids fulfilled the eligibility criteria.

A new procedure was launched in June when the government promised that the aid would begin to be distributed by September only to be delayed again.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici and Dr Metsola called for a fast implementation of the programme to ensure that the aid reached those at risk of poverty as quickly as possible.

They noted that the government had opted to stop NGOs from the distribution of such material, restricting it only to the Foundation for Social Welfare Services.

The distribution of such food served as a direct contact between the NGOs and families on the breadline and which depended on such assistance, they said.