It is still too early to determine what the government's capital expenditure will be in the next budget, but seven major projects announced in the past months have a staggering price tag of more than a third of a billion euros.

The seven projects analysed by The Times are: Dock Number One in Cospicua; the regeneration of the Menqa in Marsa;, the Renzo Piano City Gate regeneration project in Valletta; the new campus for the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology in Kordin; the Upper Barrakka lift and the breakwater bridge in Valletta; and the new cancer facility to be built on the hospital grounds at Mater Dei.

The total price tag of €383.8 million for the seven projects beggars the question of how they will be financed, especially when considering that the government's capital programme includes roads and other investments not listed here.

According to the finance ministry, not all the projects will be financed through the national budget since some would be part-financed by the EU. However, it did not specify what percentage of the funds would be covered from Europe.

In the case of Menqa's regeneration, the government's expenditure is expected to cover infrastructural works such as roads but the rest has to come from private investment.

When asked what allocation would be given to each of these projects in the Budget for 2010, a ministry spokesperson said the budget was "still being drawn up".

He did not answer a specific question as to which projects were considered top priority.

Works on the Barrakka lift and the breakwater bridge were slated to start this year, however, they are still at planning stage and money would need to be allocated for both these projects in the next budget.

According to public announcements made when the projects were launched, work is scheduled to start in 2010 on the Dock Number One project, Piano's City Gate regeneration and the cancer centre at Mater Dei.

The project that has been the longest in coming is the construction of a new campus for Mcast in Kordin.

It was first announced in 2007 by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi during the Nationalist Party's general council. However, since then no target dates have been set for the start of works.

The project was reiterated in the PN's electoral programme but no funds from the Budget have been allocated for the major works yet.

Only three of the seven projects have had a target date set for completion. The most notable is Mr Piano's City Gate, which the government wants ready by 2013; the end of this legislature. The cancer centre is expected to be finished a year earlier, in 2012, while the Barrakka lift's construction is to end in 2011.

No target completion dates were set for the other projects.

Capital projects

Dock No. 1, Cospicua
Cost: €12 million
Announced: July 14, 2009
Minister: Austin Gatt
Start date: 2010
End date: Not announced
Financing: Government

Menqa regeneration, Marsa
Cost: €130 million
Announced: July 04, 2009
Minister: Austin Gatt
Start date: 2011
End date: Not announced
Financing: Government will pay for infrastructure, private sector will cover the rest

Renzo Piano City Gate regeneration, Valletta
Cost: €80 million
Announced: December 01, 2008
Minister: Lawrence Gonzi/ Austin Gatt
Start date: 2010
End date: 2013
Financing: Government

New MCAST Campus, Kordin
Cost: €117 million
Announced: May 27, 2007
Minister: Lawrence Gonzi/ Louis Galea (former education minister)
Start date: Not announced
End date: Not announced
Financing: Government and EU funds

Upper Barrakka lift, Valletta
Cost: €2 million
Announced: March 26, 2009
Minister: Austin Gatt
Start date: 2009
End date: 2011
Financing: European Regional Development Funds

Breakwater bridge, Valletta
Cost: €2.8 million
Announced: February 13, 2009
Minister: Austin Gatt
Start date: 2009
End date: Not announced
Financing: Malta Maritime Authority

Cancer centre, Mater Dei
Cost: €40 million
Announced: July 26, 2009
Minister: Lawrence Gonzi/ John Dalli
Start date: 2010
End date: 2012
Financing: Government and EU funds

Capital expenditure

The government's capital expenditure covers various projects of an infrastructural nature and investment that is unrelated to recurrent costs.

Between 2007 and 2008, capital expenditure dropped by almost €36 million, from €257.9 million to €222.1 million. Until May the total spent on capital projects so far this year stood at almost €100 million.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com

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