Labour’s proposed green projects are hugely important and I can’t wait to see them happen. Opinionist and environment activist Desiree Attard said during the first episode of The Daily Spot – TheJournal.mt’s daily analysis of the 2022 electoral campaign.
Yesterday, Partit Laburista launched its first major pledge which includes a whopping €700 million green transformation of Malta’s urban cores.
Attard described the proposal as a very positive one which most of the people have welcomed.
“We really need these green lungs in our towns and cities,” she said while referring to the sprawling development see over the years, particularly in Malta’s urban centres.
We have to make sure that when we build, we build right, and that no natural pristine areas are taken away from us. So public beaches must remain so, and ODZ is ODZ, she said.
The strategy makes sense
We also reached out to Ingram Bondin, President of the Ramblers Association who described the proposal as a “positive development with a substantial sum allocated.”
“The strategy to allocate green spaces inside the village and town cores and the creation of regional parks in the outskirts of the villages makes sense,” he said, adding that this will compensate to haphazard development carried out along the years.
“The strategy makes sense both in terms of creating a better quality of life for citizens and also to create amodal shift to a greener economy.”
A mike-drop moment
On his part, Vice-Chairperson of Labour’s political think tank Fondazzjoni Ideat, Brian Scicluna described this as a mike-drop moment.
“Starting to unveil the electoral manifesto with the announcement of a €700m investment to create green urban spaces was a mike drop moment for me,” he said.
“We have long been hearing that a new PL government under Robert Abela was going to prioritise the environment, being the first announcement of this electoral campaign is a big statement of intent.”
He added that as part of Fondazzjoni Ideat he had long been pushing for the creation of green communal spaces close to where people live. Such spaces not only serve as green lungs to our towns but also create spaces for communities to interact and develop.
You can watch the first episode of The Daily Spot below and follow the latest updates on #Malta22.
