Government committed to regenerate Cottonera

The government is committed to regenerating Cottonera, bringing to light its rich historic heritage in order to turn it into a top-notch tourist destination, Acting Prime Minister Tonio Borg said yesterday.

Addressing a political activity in Senglea, Dr Borg said the Nationalist Party in government had taken a number of initiatives to give Cottonera the breath of fresh air it deserved.

He mentioned the 20 projects being proposed by the government to regenerate Grand Harbour and a similar number of projects for the Marsamxett and the area around Fort St Elmo. "But this is not enough. The government wants to carry out more projects in order to create more employment opportunities," he said.

The initiatives the government has taken have continued to improve the health sector, not only with Mater Dei Hospital but also with innovative initiatives such as the agreements signed with doctors, nurses, midwives and nions representing workers in this sector. Mater Dei hospital is not only massive but is state-of-the-art, which makes it possible for 100 surgeries and 11,700 tests to be carried out on a daily basis.

The government is committed to improve the primary healthcare, educating people that prevention is far better than cure. He linked this to the heavy investment in education in recent years.

In January families will start reaping the benefits introduced in the budget. Among these he mentioned the 22,000 families that will start receiving a minimum Lm107 per child in children's allowance. People aged 61 to 65 will be able to go on working full-time without forfeiting their pension.