The regeneration of Cottonera continues.

After several projects, including the Vittoriosa waterfront and the setting up of the marina, both of which have already given a new face to the Three Cities, the government has embarked on yet another rehabilitation programme to give a further boost to the area.

This time, it has taken the form of five ideas, all linked to each other, which will be implemented over the next 16 months and be concluded by the end of next year. While the bulk of the work in question is on the upgrading of the promenade linking at the former Dock Number 1, the other parts of the project need to be carried out and finalised in time for Malta to obtain the European Union funding that it has applied for.

Some €7.5 million of the €9.3 million project will go towards embellishing the sea front in between the Freedom Day monument in Vittoriosa, all around the Cospicua creek, to the former Labour Party headquarters, known as the Macina, in Senglea. There will also be a footbridge which will make crossing from one side to the other a shorter trip, without having to go all the way round to Cospicua.

The rest of the project includes the rehabilitation of two housing estates at Verdala and St Nicholas Married Quarters; the upgrading of the access to Dar Andrew, which accommodates disabled people; and the embellishment of the San Gwann t’Ghuxa area. Work on the latter has already started, while the rest is due to start shortly.

The idea is not only to revamp the zones in question from the physical point of view, but also to regenerate the areas economically and socially.

One stumbling block could be that the government expects illegal structures which were built over the years in the two housing estates to be removed by 2 October. Residents have received a letter informing them that unless these structures are removed, the government will have to intervene directly.

Cospicua mayor Joseph Scerri told this newspaper’s Sunday sister that he does not envisage any problems, as the residents have already been told verbally that such work needs to be undertaken for them to have a better place to live in. And the government has also pledged its support if the residents need any assistance to carry out the work that has been requested from them.

The fact that the funds for the upgrading of the Dock Number 1 area are linked to the rehabilitation of the housing estates is the carrot that the government has dangled in front of the Cottonera residents, in particular the Cospicua local council. Knowing that the Dock Number 1 project will not proceed without the Verdala and St Nicholas regeneration is enough to push the council into doing its part to convince the residents of these areas that this is the way forward. The council has been pushing for work on the rehabilitation of Dock Number 1 for months and it would not like it if the project is stalled because of matters which are not directly related.

Once completed, the Dock Number 1 promenade will be yet another link in the chain that the government wants to create as part of its plan to regenerate Grand Harbour – that is the possibility of people walking all the way from Valletta through Marsa to the Three Cities.

Of course, there is still so much that needs to be done, but after all Rome was not built in a day.