Aaron Farrugia has promised to fix up San Anton even though the environment ministry is only responsible for “soft landscaping and ponds” within the gardens.

Taking to Facebook, Farrugia said he joined others in expressing disappointment in the dilapidated state of the gardens, which require structural works on the walls and paving.

Farrugia said even though his ministry is not responsible for these works, debates about who is responsible for the maintenance is secondary in people’s eyes.

The environment minister said he had, therefore, asked the “authorities” to find funding for the necessary works to be carried out immediately.

Valletta Cultural Agency and ONE TV head Jason Micallef cast the matter into the national spotlight this week after his social media posts showing the gardens in a state of disrepair went viral.

“San Anton Gardens abandoned. It’s difficult to believe it. The nicest and best public garden of its type in the country is in a state of almost total abandon.

“A heart-wrenching sight of national shame,” he wrote.

In a subsequent post, he clarified that maintenance of the gardens was not the President’s responsibility.

The posts generated hundreds of comments and were widely shared. This prompted the Office of the President to start replying to commenters, saying the gardens are not the head of state’s responsibility.

The President even had his staff erect signs in the gardens this week informing the public that the Environment Ministry is responsible for their upkeep.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.