Rural Affairs and Environment Minister George Pullicino called yesterday for more synergy and collaboration between local councils which, he said, would in turn benefit more than one community.

Mr Pullicino was speaking at the signing of agreements between the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) and 21 local councils to fully or partially fund 39 environmentally-friendly projects in the 21 councils, amounting in value to over Lm400,000.

The projects include the upgrading of playing fields, the embellishment and landscaping of public open spaces and gardens, new energy-saving street lighting, the upgrading of street furniture, paving work and improvements to public convenience facilities.

“So far, we have still not achieved the level of synergy that we were aiming for when the local councils were set up,” said Mr Pullicino.

He called for more collaboration, especially where these projects were concerned, that would benefit more than one local community.

Mepa chairman Andrew Calleja explained that the Urban Improvement Fund (UIF) has accumulated up to Lm1.5 million which is sustained through Article 40 of the Development Planning Act.

This article, along with other legal instruments, lays down a fee of Lm500 from development applicants in lieu of parking spaces that cannot be provided on site, where the Commuted Payment Parking Scheme is not in force, added Mr Calleja.

The money collected will eventually be used for urban improvement projects within the area, he said.

Lucien Stafrace from the Transport Planning Unit within Mepa explained that last year, Mepa had introduced a policy to use this money.

He said that 50 local councils had submitted a total of 118 projects.

However, he said, “88 per cent of the 39 approved and signed projects will be funded by Mepa.”

Mr Stafrace added that there were another 11 projects that have been approved for funding but were still awaiting a development permit.

In addition, there are another 57 projects that have been submitted by 30 local councils, 10 of which were submitted by the Rural Affairs and Environment Ministry, on which more information is required before funding can be approved, said Mr Stafrace.

However, he added, there are 12 local councils that could make use of Lm130,000 in funds but have not yet expressed any interest in doing so.

Minister Pullicino explained that the government had allocated Lm1 million in this year’s budget for these projects but this had increased to Lm1.5 million through the money collected by Mepa.

“Even though there are several individual projects that will be completely funded by Mepa, the authority will fund 88 per cent of all the projects,” he said.

He pointed out that a local council could not qualify for partial funding unless it clearly stated where the rest of the sum was coming from.

In a careful reminder, Mr Pullicino spoke about the importance that these projects should be environmentally friendly.

“The local councils need to be sustainable – both financially and environmentally. The local council has to clearly understand the terms of reference when it is submitting these projects,” he said.