Resources and Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino yesterday viewed works being carried out for the rehabilitation of Mdina ditch, where the public is being given more open space, the Department of Information said.

The works will be costing about €1.2 million and will be completed later this year. They include almost 16,000 square metres of unutilised space which was not previously accessible to the public.

There will be a new recreational area in a garden and paving lined with orange and other trees. More trees will be used than there were before with most trees transplanted in the ditch further out from the bastions, which are highlighted better.

A new lighting system is to be installed which will light up the ditch to make it accessible also in the evenings.

The works also include the sustainable use of water. Water will be stored on St Paul bastion and all rainwater collected during the last year has been transferred to a reservoir in the yard at Vilhena Palace. This will be one of the reserves for the main reservoir in the ditch.

Restoration work on the Mdina bastions will continue during the coming two years, incorporating the historical magazines facing Mtarfa and the Despuig bastion below the Mdina cathedral.

The investment is worth €36 million, co-financed to 85% by the EU, the DOI said.