Twenty-one projects, which involve a number of Maltese entities, have been selected for funding under the Italy-Malta 2007-2013 Cross-Border Programme which falls under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). These projects, which involve ministries, local councils, authorities, as well as the University of Malta, have a budgetary allocation of €8.3 million.
One of these projects is the Moriso project, which has an ERDF budgetary allocation of €249,275 and aims at the conservation of water and the improvement of the efficiency in the management of our water networks. One of the deliverables of this project is the monitoring of our coastal aquifers so as to determine which of these aquifers are vulnerable to sea water intrusion and / or contamination caused by agricultural activities. This project shall also assess the underground water resources of some hydrological basins in terms of their quantity and quality and also define agricultural practices that tend to save water used for irrigation purposes. In this regard, the installation and the commissioning of a pilot desalinisation plant and a micro-irrigation system is also foreseen. The Maltese partners in this project are the Malta Resources Authority and the Water Services Corporation.
On the other hand, the Resi project focuses on spreading the use of renewable energy, particularly solar energy, in Malta and in Sicily. To this end, this project shall establish common strategies aimed at attaining a widespread use of renewable energy in both territories, by means of the identification and implementation of a specific action plan. The project will also develop an environmental and a socio-economic database, which will provide information on the various renewable energy scenarios in the cross-border area. A renewable energy atlas, which maps the installation of renewable energy sources and good practices, is another deliverable of this project. The ERDF budgetary allocation pertaining to the two Maltese partners in this project i.e. the Malta Resources Authority and the Institute for Sustainable Energy amounts to €214,797.
Another project, foresees the restoration of two archaeological sites – Ta’ Bistra in Mosta and St Augustine in Rabat, Malta. The Archaeotur project, which is being led by the Mosta local council and which also involves the Rabat local council, Heritage Malta and the Malta Tourism Authority as Maltese partners has an ERDF budgetary allocation of €635,460. Once these two sites are rehabilitated, they will be opened to the general public and to tourists. Heritage trails, which include other historical places, such as the Mosta Dome and the Roman Villa, will also be developed under this project.
The Italy-Malta 2007-2013 Cross-Border Programme, which is one of the Territorial Cooperation Programmes in which Malta is currently participating, is coordinated by the Territorial Cooperation Unit within the Funds and Programmes Division at the Office of the Prime Minister. Further information on this programme may be obtained from the programme’s website www.italiamalta.eu or from the Funds and Programmes Division on 2200-1102.
Mark De Martino is Information Executive Italy-Malta 2007-2013 Cross-Border Cooperation Programme