A piece of land that the Nationalist Party had promised to turn into a public garden was still in a bad state, Labour leader Alfred Sant said yesterday.

On a visit to San Gwann, Dr Sant said the proposed garden in Stefanotis Street was one of the promises the PN-led local council did not keep.

He added that only 55 per cent of the pre-election promises had been fulfilled.

Other promises made but not kept included the resurfacing of a number of streets, the maintenance of pavements, the introduction of Internet access at the public library and the embellishment of the cultural sites in the village.

Dr Sant said that Labour councillors’ efforts were ignored.

He said that if elected, a Labour-led council would develop the garden in Stefanotis Street and improve the existing road clean system.

The party, he added, would launch an educational campaign for young children to create awareness on the environment, while the cart ruts area and the old windmill would be developed into tourist areas.

Dr Sant said a Labour-led council would work with the party’s members of the European Parliament to establish contact with villages and regions in the EU that could lead to twinning projects and cultural events.

The mayor of San Gwann, Kurt Guillaumier, rebutted Dr Sant’s criticism yesterday afternoon, saying that the council had replaced over 50 light bulbs, resurfaced 16 roads, and rebuilt over 13,000 metres of pavements.

He said a day care centre had been set up and 20 areas in the village had been embellished. Mr Guillaumier said that the local council deserved better judgement and called for “a revision of paper”.

In a separate statement, the Rural Affairs and Environment Ministry said that together with the San Gwann council, plans had been drawn up for the building of a garden.

But when work was about to start, several residents had turned up to stop the proceedings as they said that cart ruts were buried in the area. Discussions are now taking place with Heritage Malta.