Nature and the natural environment will play a significant role within Malta's first Rehabilitation Therepeutic Centre, Minister for Family Affairs and Social Solidarity Michael Falzon said today, at the signing of the project agreement with Caritas Malta.
Speaking at the Caritas San Blas center, Director of Caritas Leonid McKay explained that whilst locating an area for the project they "were a bit choosy" because "nature plays an important factor in rehabilitation."
Animal therapy, agricultural therapy, farming, gardening and stables are planned to be included in this new centre, Falzon said. The centre should be running by June 2019.
The government will be funding the project with an investment of €750,000 per year towards the running of the centre, together with an investment of another €3 million for the building and infrastructure of the site. Caritas Malta will be running the rehabilitation programme through the Foundation for Rehabilitation. "Although the government has financial commitments with the project, which is an important committment, there is also a commitment to the values of society, that it is a society which includes everyone, and will only be humane if that value is kept," said Falzon.
The center will be open specifically to teenage girls and boys, a first for Malta, whose adolescents currently have to seek treatment in a rehabilitation centre that caters for both youth and adults. A centre specifically for adolescents is important, McKay explained, as "minors have completely different needs and therefore should be treated separately." McKay deemed todays event 'an important moment for Caritas,' who have been striving for such a centre for years.
Drug abuse is usually a "cocktail of other problems", according to McKay and the earlier you address the problem of addiction, the better. "Substance abuse often when the individuals are as young as 12 or 13," he said. He added that, during adolescence, drugs can have a severe effect on mental development. He went on to report figures that this year 41 teenagers reached out to the outreach team. He said that the 41 individualds were mostly boys, between 15 to 16 years old, and most had a cannabis addiction, where the youth would use the drug on a daily basis.
The rehabilitation centre, will be set up in Ta' Kandja, limits of Siggiewi. McKay explained that the area is called 'Ta' Libwar' which he deems a potential name for the centre as it means 'meadows'.
The Minister went on to appeal to those who are currently facing difficulties with drug addiction to seek out the help of professional services.
Back in October, this newsroom had reported that the Planning Authority approved the necessary permits for the setting up of this centre, which is to serve as a therapeutic care centre for the rehabilitation of under-18 drug users. The application was filed by Caritas Director Leonid McKay. The site is outside the development zone. It is located in Triq l-Imqabba, Ta' Kandja, limits of Siggiewi, which lies outside the limits of development. The site consists of an existing rural farmhouse having a frontage on the street, and onto adjoining fields, with the entire site covering a total area of c. 9,330m². The fields are enclosed by rubble and ashlar masonry walls.
Photo by Michael Camilleri