Updated: Ta' Qali project stopped, Dock 1 to become crafts centre - PL demands explanation

(Adds Opposition's reaction)

Plans for the rebuilding of Ta' Qali Crafts Village have been stopped and the governemnt is now planning to transform the Dock 1 area in Cospicua into and Arts and Crafts Centre, the Infrastructure Minister has said in Parliament.

The longstanding plans for Ta' Qali had included a new road and utilities network and the rebuilding of the workshops, currently housed in old former British services huts.

Minister Austin Gatt said the project has been stopped because no funds for it had been sourced from the European Union.

"The alternative that is being considered is for Dock 1 to be put to similar use," the minister said.

He added that investors who had previously shown an interest in the regeneration of the Dock 1 area is Cospicua have been told that, for various reasons, the redevelopment as proposed by them is no longer desired.

He said that further details on the new plans for Dock 1 will be announced in the coming days.

The rehabilitation of Ta' Qali Crafts Village was meant to start last year and take four years to complete, at a cost of €28 million. It would also have seen the number of businesses rise from the current 40 to 85.

At the opening of Parliament ceremony last year, the government had said that Dock No. 1 would be regenerated as a recreational area with a promenade that linked it right up to Fort St Angelo.

In a reaction, the Labour Party asked the government to explain who it had consulted, and what led it to decide to abandon its electoral promises on Dock 1 and the Crafts Village.

It should also say from where it intended to get the funds to develop Dock 1 into a crafts centre.

The PL said that these two projects had been promised in the PN’s electoral programme. The craft centre at Dock 1, on the other hand, had never been mentioned.

The Labour Party said that in 15 years the Nationalist government made nine promises on Dock 1 including that it would be developed into a recreational zone and a yacht marina. And as regards the Ta’ Qali crafts village, 11 different promises were made in 17 years.

But nothing was done and thousands of euros from public funds were squandered on studies, reports, consultants and experts.