A monument in honour of late Prime Minister Dom Mintoff has been inaugurated at a garden dedicated to him in Paola.
The €170,000 monument is the work of Alfred Camilleri Cauchi. The cast was selected by an independent jury and then approved by the local council.
Sixty per cent of the costs were financed by the Local Government Division under a capital projects scheme. The remainder were forked out by the Paola council.
The monument shows the former prime minister in a typical pose, holding onto a stone with one hand and gesturing with the other.
Mintoff led the Labour Party for 35 years between 1949 and 1984 and served as Prime Minister for two separate stints, decades apart. A divisive figure who was revered by supporters and despised by detractors, he died in 2012.
Parliamentary Secretary Alison Zerafa Civelli praised the council for the initiative and its commitment to the project.
Mayor Dominic Grima said that the council will be inaugurating several other projects, including gardens and new services for the community, in the coming months.