The new civic centre in Fgura will be taking advantage of €600,000 received through the Planning Authority’s Planning and Development Fund to finish the internal elements of the building, prior to its inauguration in November.
The centre, when completed, will house the Fgura local council and will cater for the 12,000 or so residents of the fast-growing town, along with several thousand other residents in the surrounding area.
This fund uses money gathered from the building regularisation scheme, wherein fines from those who rectify irregularities are reinvested into the community.
Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects Ian Borg said that projects like this civic centre are an answer to all the critics of the fund and who said that the government was not giving any aid to local councils.
He said that on the contrary to what their critics were saying, the government was committed to helping local councils. Aside from the Planning and Development Fund which the local councils can take advantage, Borg said that the decision his ministry had taken to take control of all roadworks from the councils had taken a weight off their shoulders, and allows local councils to allocate their budgets elsewhere to help more residents.
Fgura’s mayor Pierre Dalli said that the new building will add a new dimension to the work of the local council, and that it will now be possible for the council to be more accessible and to offer more services.
Dalli explained that the new building will not only house the local council, but it will also house a 14 car underground garage for all those with accessibility issues, an artistic space in the building’s foyer and also a set of social services that Fgura residents, and those of localities nearby, can take advantage of.
Parliamentary Secretary for Planning and the Property Market Chris Agius meanwhile praised the commitment, ambition and vision of the council for this project, before appealing to all local councils to use the funds that are allocated to them through the Planning Authority. Minister Ian Borg later stated that there was €27 million that remained unused by local councils.
Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government and Communities Silvio Parnis also addressed the conference, and appealed for local councils to continue improving the quality of life of their residents.