Dr Sant and a number of contestants for the European Parliament election on behalf of the MLP yesterday visited Chadwick Lakes, where the Labour government had started a project between 1996 and 1998. This was, however, discontinued after 1998, when the Nationalist Party returned to power. He later visited the Ghadira Nature Reserve, which he referred to as a “success story”.

At Chadwick Lakes, Dr Sant said, the Labour Government had spent Lm300,000 before this project was discontinued by the Nationalist Government. He said that notwithstanding various promises that the project was going to be continued, this never took place, he said. Dr Sant said the MLP was hoping that the government would get funding from the European Union to continue this project. “With half the Lm500,000 which was reduced from the budget of the Malta Tourism Authority, the government could easily continue this project,” he said.

He said the Labour Party believes it is important that the government helps out any organisations which want to improve the overall image of the area. Dr Sant said the Labour Party was planning to utilise funds from the Italian Protocol to be used for such projects. He said the Labour candidates contesting the EP election will work to ensure that funds will be sought for this project.

Dr Sant described the Ghadira Nature Reserve as a success story. In 1979, the Labour government prohibited hunting at the reserve while in 1980, the Labour government turned it into a nature reserve. Since then, BirdLife Malta has turned the reserve into a beautiful place, which is also serving as an important educational tool because of the large amounts of schoolchildren that go there every day.

Dr Sant said the MLP MEPs will ensure that organisations such as BirdLife Malta are properly funded in view of their important role. He said the nature reserve should be used as a role model for other similar projects. The environment is at the forefront of the MLP’s agenda, he concluded.