Home Affairs minister Tonio Borg said applications by the office of the Government Notary, the Local Government Department and Public Registry and Lands were rejected by the Planning and Priorities Directorate of the Office of the Prime Minister.
Applications by the Attorney General’s office and by the Justice Division, although they cleared that first hurdle, were not chosen because of a lack of funds.
An application by the Police authorities is being considered.
Besides, funds from Norway under the bilateral financial instrument which Norway pays to new EU member states were available but a request from the Police authorities for these funds was rejected. Another claim has been made and is being considered.
The Third Country Nationals Directorate has asked for co-financing of projects submitted by the Kummissjoni Emigranti and the Jesuit Refugee Service. This request is being considered by the European Commission.
Competitiveness Minister Censu Galea replied that the Malta Maritime Authority had requested funds from the European Regional Development Fund for two projects and they were both selected by the Project Selection Committee and approved by Cabinet.
MMA also requested funds from the Transition Facility for capacity building but this request was rejected. MMA also applied for funds from TEN-T and DG TREN for surveys and geotechnical investigations and for a short sea shipping promotion centre and while the first has been approved, the other was put on the reserve list.
The Malta Standards Authority had requested two funds from the Transition Facility but both requests were rejected. The Consumer and Competition Division requested a fund from the Transition Facility for an anti-trust preliminary proposal. This proposal was deemed eligible for funding but was not considered a priority and was left out of the programme.
Investments Minister Austin Gatt said the following had applied for funds from the European Fund for Regional Development: Enemalta (two projects); Water Services Corporation (two projects); Malta Industrial Parks (one project) and Malta Enterprise (one project).
All these requests have been approved by the committee for the choice of projects co-financed by the EU.
A further request by Malta Enterprise for a fund from the European Social Fund has not yet been approved.
Urban development Minister Jesmond Mugliett said the Roads Directorate has applied for funds for the following road projects: Hal Far phase III (from the Peace Lab to the Freeport) costing Lm2 million has been approved and the
tender dossier is being prepared; the Marfa Road, costing Lm2.5 million, has been approved as a reserve project and the Lm2.5 million project for the upgrading and the restoration of the Regional Road bridge has been approved and the first call for offers was issued on Friday. With regard to Cohesion Funds, an application for Lm2.5 million for the reconstruction and upgrading of the St Paul’s Bay by-pass was submitted on 24 September as was an application for Lm500,000 for the reconstruction and upgrading of Civil Aviation Avenue in Luqa and for Lm1.2 million for the reconstruction and upgrading of Mgarr Road in Ghajnsielem. A contract for Lm600,000 for a feasibility and environmental impact assessment for transport infrastructure projects from the 2002 Pre-Accession Funds is in its final stages while the second phase of the same study, financed under pre-accession funds 2003, is preparing for a tender document launch after the first call for offers was not successful.
Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino replied that an application for funding by the Organic Funding Unit in cooperation with Ragusa Province is in the contracting stage. With regard to the Fisheries Conservation and Control Division, a project for a small-scale coastal fishing scheme and another for a Marketing and Processing Scheme have been submitted to the directorate for planning and coordination (PPCD). A fleet renewal scheme has been approved by Cabinet and a letter of offer is about to be signed while a fleet modernisation scheme has been submitted to PPCD. A project regarding traditional boat building has been approved by Cabinet while schemes on fishing port facilities on aquaculture and on the adjustment of fishing effort have been submitted to PPCD. Wasteserv has applied for the following funds: for control of aerial emissions for Maghtab, Qortin and Wied Fulija landfills; for the establishment of a civic amenity and bring-in sites, separate household waste collection and an integrated communications strategy; a household waste separation at source project – training job seekers to assist in the implementation of waste separation at source; funds for the upgrading of the waste treatment plant and material recycling and recovery facility; a project regarding technical assistance for the development of implementation systems for the producer responsibility directives and a proposal for technical assistance to explore long-term projects to manage specific waste streams more sustainably. Mepa has applied for and is at varying stages of approval for the following funds: for the acquisition of air monitoring equipment to comply with the acquis requirements, for research surveys for the setting up of a marine SAC around Filfla, for building capacity at a strategic decision-making level to consolidate the implementation of the EU environmental acquis; for a consultancy on the administrative capacity of Mepa to implement the EU environmental acquis, for a consultancy on the integration of environmental and land use planning legislation, for the preparation of terms of reference for Malta’s 2005 State of the Environment report, for a project Growing Responsibility for the European Environment Innovatively and for three networking projects.