A disused site at Ta’ Ġawhar area in Safi has been turned into a picnic area and dog park.
The works were carried out by Project Green and Ambjent Malta, in collaboration with the Safi Local Council.
The 1,000 square metre area features new outdoor furniture, including picnic tables, 30 new indigenous trees and 40 shrubs watered through a newly-built reservoir as well as solar-powered lighting and security cameras.
Workers also built new rubble walls and installed fencing in the area.
The park is open all day from Monday to Sunday.
Environment Minister Miriam Dalli was joined by Animal Rights parliamentary secretary Alicia Bugeja Said, Project Green CEO Steve Ellul, Safi Mayor Johan Mula and other Safi local councillors for the inauguration.
Dalli said the area had become a dumping ground in recent years but would now serve the local community.
“Project Green is working closely with all stakeholders so that these open spaces meet the different needs and aspirations of our communities. In this case, we responded to the community’s wish to have a new dog park in the south of the island, while also creating a picnic area which will surely become very popular among families in this area,” Dalli said.
Parliamentary Secretary Bugeja Said said “after listening to the public, we understood that we needed more dog parks that are open all day and night. We will continue to work on this model in order to open more dog parks.”
Project Green CEO Steve Ellul stated, “Prioritising water management and harvesting in our parks is one way of facilitating the continued upkeep of the trees and plants we are adding in these open spaces, to ensure longevity.”
The Ta’ Ġawhar Dog Park and Picnic Area is the eighth open space opened in the past six months. Earlier this year the Ministry opened another new picnic area at the San Klement Park in Żabbar, the regeneration of the Ta' Qali Dog Park, the Bengħajsa Family Park in Birżebbuġa, the first Green Open Campus at Millbrae Grove in Mosta, the embellishment of the Petting Farm and Minden Grove at Ta’ Qali, the first phase of the restoration of the historic St Philip Gardens in Floriana and the upgrading of Ġnien iż-Żgħażagħ in Gudja.
The latter project raised accusations of greenwashing in some quarters, as critics noted that the Gudja garden had originally been inaugurated just years earlier.