A new family park will be created in the area of Bengħajsa, in Birżebbuġa, through a €4 million investment, Minister for Energy and Enterprise Miriam Dalli, and Minister for Tourism and Consumer Protection Clayton Bartolo announced on Wednesday. 

Back in January 2020, around 1,000 native trees were planted in the area of Bengħajsa behind the Birżebbuġa freeport. Now, this area is also being turned into a family park for both locals and tourists to enjoy. 

"This is one of the biggest parks in our country, and certainly the biggest in the south of Malta. This area covers 60,000m2 which we are working to regenerate and transform into a park so that families in Birżebbuġa and in the surrounding areas can come and spend their free time," Dalli said. 

She noted that in the past few months, in collaboration with a number of other ministries, the Government was working to plant trees in this area. 

This project is planned for completion in 2023, and it would then open as a family park. That will not mean the end of this project, she said. 

Through Parks Malta, the Government will ensure that afforestation continues in this park through the planting of more indigenous trees, and together with the Tourism ministry "we will plan for a number of attractions to be on offer." 

The government is looking into how it can also introduce educational activities in this area, she said. 

Dalli noted that a number of other projects are also in the pipeline in the South of Malta, most notably in Birżebbuġa. 

For his part, Minister Bartolo said that the tourism ministry is working to renovate all parts of Malta. "This shows that we want all of Malta and Gozo to be one touristm zone," Bartolo said. 

Bartolo remarked that apart from families residing in Birżebbuġa and in the surrounding area, this park could also attract tourists interested in adventure tourism. "We want to expand this niche as much as possible, which forms part of the tourism strategy we have for the coming years," he said.