Resources Minister George Pullicino has told Parliament that by the end of the month, the government would give farmers and breeders €6.5 million in aid for 2009.
Over a period of six years, he said, EU assistance to the agricultural sector had amounted to €100 million, of which €12 million were aimed at modernisation of farms, benefiting 180 farmers and breeders, who had to fork out 50 per cent of the investment.
He said that the ministry had received three times as many applications as could be serviced.
Earlier, Mr Pullicino said the Budget built on the government programme to safeguard jobs and create new employment opportunities, utilising EU funds.
Restoration works on fortifications from Valletta to Vittoriosa, Mdina and the Cittadella in Gozo had started. This would restore six of the 60 km of bastions on the island. The project, costing €36 million from EU funds, would provide work for 120 people.
The state was also providing funds to upgrade tourist areas, including the Qui-si-Sana-Tigné promenade. A family park was planned for Marsascala and a National Park at the Delimara promontory. Other infrastructural works were being carried out at Rabat and would soon start on the Mosta parvis.
A silent revolution had taken place in waste management through EU funds. Mr Pullicino said €26 million had been invested in the Sant'Antnin recycling plant, €19 million of which funded by the EU. The plant would be ready to treat one third of all waste generated in Malta by the beginning of May.
A similar plant was needed in the north, as well as an incinerator facility which would treat 20 per cent of waste dumped in landfills. This waste could be used to generate clean energy.
The minister criticised the opposition for having failed to take part in the consultation process on the national waste management plan. He said that for the sake of accountability and transparency the opposition should publicly declare who the members of a committee that it had set up for this purpose were.
The waste management plan gave the private sector the chance to participate at least in two particular schemes, including the incinerator facilitiy. He said that, contrary to what the opposition had maintained, WasteServ's audited accounts had been deposited with the MFSA. He also criticised the Leader of the Opposition for lack of credibility when he had tried to scare the farmers at Wied Rini, limits of Baħrija, on the proposed wind farm.
He admitted that Malta had started late on clean energy because it had had to focus on the infrastructure. Unfortunately, only about 3,000 had applied for the offer on solar water heaters when the government was ready to extend the offer to 4,000 households. Other schemes had been more fruitful.
Minister Pullicino announced that 15 local and foreign companies had expressed their interest in installing photovoltaic panels on the roofs of public buildings. This investment would cost €25 million.
It was the government's aim to generate 10 per cent of the country's energy by solar and wind-generated means. There were also positive indications on the feed-in tariffs.