Kirkop would soon be a centre of teaching, sport and culture, Education Minister Louis Galea said yesterday when inaugurating new facilities at Kirkop primary school, which is part of St Benedict College.

The college, he pointed out, had been opened two years ago and last year work started on the regional sports complex near the school. The facilities were provided by the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools and may also be used after school hours.

During the inauguration of the sports ground an agreement was signed by the minister and Kirkop United FC and Nursery about the joint administration of the facility after school hours.

This was what they wanted to do with their schools – centres of educational, sports and cultural activities which if possible would not close, Dr Galea said.

Nursery president Edward Mizzi said Maltese children today had the fortune of being able to train and play in top class grounds around the country. Although Kirkop was a small village the nursery had 150 children and some who had started with Kirkop’s club today played in the Premier league.

Dr Galea said the regional sports complex being built at Kirkop would be ready in a short time, adding to the facilities in the village, which were avialable to the residents and those from nearby areas.

The minister said that investment in Kirkop over recent years had been heavy – some Lm250,000 on roads, and some Lm80,000 passed by the government to the local council. Since 1998 the government will have passed to the council over Lm600,000. This was apart from over Lm500,000 in social housing, Lm70,000 in modernising the housing estate, and about Lm36,000 spent on St Leonard Square. The new school, a new hall, the sports complex, and other expenditure, represented an investment of over Lm5 million in Kirkop, Dr Galea said.