The transfer of services and patients from St Luke’s Hospital to the new Mater Dei Hospital should be completed towards the end of this year, four months after Skanska hands the hospital over to the government on 1 July, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.

Dr Gonzi was speaking on site at Mater Dei hospital – one of 14 stops in various locations in Malta and Gozo as part of the government’s activities for Worker’s Day.

He explained that all the specialised services, including the Intensive Therapy Unit, should be fully functional by the end of this year. “It is important to keep in mind that it is a patient-focused transfer. We have people’s health as our first priority,” said Dr Gonzi.

He pointed out that although there was the need for more investment in supporting staff, St Luke’s Hospital was functioning fully. “We already have a hospital that is functioning, so I am confident that it will also work with Mater Dei. The main challenge is to successfully complete the transfer from the old hospital to the new,” he said.

During his first stop at the Marsaxlokk hard standing facility, Dr Gonzi explained that this project, which cost e2 million, would provide services to Maltese and Gozitan fishermen who previously had to go to Sicily to service their vessels.

“The hard standing facility will not only be used by Maltese fishermen but by foreign fishermen too,” he said.

Dr Gonzi then visited the Sports Complex at St Benedict’s College in Kirkop, and together with Education Minister Louis Galea, officially laid the first stone. Dr Galea explained that the construction works began last February and were moving at a fast pace.

The sports complex can be used for various disciplines such as volleyball, basketball, netball, badminton, football and athletics.

The minister said that the sports complex covered over 5,000 square metres. Of these, 2,300 square metres would be used for the building while the rest would include landscaping and a car park.

Dr Gonzi said these projects were a clear example that the government kept the promises it made. The taxes paid by the Maltese and Gozitans were converted into these projects, he added.

“We are very proud of this school. However, it is important not only to look at the building but also at the learning process that takes place inside it,” said the Prime Minister.

Dr Gonzi also paid a visit to the Handaq industrial zone where he was met by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Self-Employed and Small and Medium Enterprises, Edwin Vassallo.

The Prime Minister was taken around a construction site, a private project, which will be transformed into a 33-unit five-storey building that will cost around Lm3.5 million.

Mr Vassallo explained that the units were on offer to micro-enterprises which wanted to expand.

“Even though the project should be ready by the end of November, there are many people, such as panel beaters and carpenters, who have already expressed an interest in buying a unit,” he said.

Mr Vassallo said the government had invested Lm1.5 million on the infrastructure in various industrial zones around Malta and Gozo.

Dr Gonzi, accompanied by Resources and Infrastructure Minister Ninu Zammit, also visited the Marsa Water Course project.

Minister Zammit explained that the project was an extremely successful one and cost around Lm1.5 million.

While in the vicinity, Dr Gonzi stopped to speak to several irregular immigrants residing at the Marsa open centre.

He was also taken round the construction work carried out at the Police Headquarters in Floriana.

Police Commissioner John Rizzo explained to Dr Gonzi that a hall was being constructed under the control room.

Furthermore, he added, all the work was being carried out by police officers.

Justice and Internal Affairs Minister Tonio Borg and the Parliamentary Secretary within the Justice Ministry, Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, also accompanied Dr Gonzi during his visit at the police headquarters.

Mr Rizzo explained that a new area was being built within the depot, with two new storeys, which would serve as the main headquarters of the Schengen system.

He said that it would be a highly classified area that would be restricted to a few. All the correspondence between the Schengen IT base in Strasbourg and the Malta Police Force would pass through this department, he added.

“All the works were carried out by police officers and we did not ask for one penny in funding,” said Mr Rizzo.

Dr Gonzi said it was vital that Malta formed part of the Schengen Treaty, especially because of its strategic position in the Mediterranean.

During a visit to the Archaeology Museum in Valletta, the Prime Minister was told that the Silent Warriors exhibition broke all admission records since it opened in March.

A total of 30,000 people, mainly tourists, went to see the terracotta soldiers and the museum was expecting the number to go up to 50,000 visitors by the time the exhibition ends.

As the Prime Minister was walking out of the museum, he met a group of schoolboys from Verdala school who were going to visit the Silent Warriors exhibition.

“You are very lucky to go and visit this exhibition because people around the world have to go to China to see these soldiers,” he told them.

Dr Gonzi later visited the landscaping project at Mater Dei Hospital, where he was accompanied by Health Minister Louis Deguara and the Parliamentary Secretary within the Finance Ministry Tonio Fenech.

He explained that the landscaping was carried out by the Environmental Landscaping Consortium (ELC), that employed 260 government workers.

“Not only did the ELC bring together employees from various government departments, but they also employed another 50 people through the TEES scheme, aimed for people over 40 years of age, offered by the Employment and Training Corporation,” said Dr Gonzi.

He added that one of the conditions imposed by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) was that 10,000 trees had to be planted in the landscaping area and that this was being implemented.

Dr Gonzi met Roads and Infrastructure Minister Jesmond Mugliett to view the works carried out on the Manwel Dimech Bridge.

Minister Mugliett said the project would be completed by the end of October and not by September, as was originally planned.

“However, this is the first project of its kind and the delay on the project’s deadline is justifiable,” he said.

He pointed out that the first cast of the bridge and the shoulders should be placed next week.

The Prime Minister said the construction of the bridge was a very technical project – the first of its kind.

“However, it was organised well as can be seen in the traffic management system, which had a very positive effect,” he said.

Dr Gonzi also visited the Maghtab landfill, the Mellieha home for the elderly, the Mgarr housing estate and the Crafts Incubation Centre in Gozo.