Ambitious Cottonera project unveiled

The government has unveiled an ambitious €9.3 million project to regenerate the Cottonera area.

The project, which is divided into five parts, is expected to be completed by the end of next year, project leader Hector Chetcuti said.

Called “Stronger Cottonera Communities: The Citizen’s Right to Accessibility”, it is 85 per cent financed by the European Regional Development Fund and 15 per cent by the government.

The first part of the project involves the regeneration of Xatt ir-Risq and Dock 1. A budget of €7.5 million is being allocated for the purpose.

A walk through from the present Vittoriosa Waterfront through Senglea Point will be created. It will also include the semi-pedestrianisation of Gavino Gulia Square and the regeneration of the Dock area.

The second part deals with social regeneration and will consist of the upgrading of St Nicholas Married Quarters and the Verdala Housing Estate.

A total of 94 families live in these areas in Grade 1 structures which form part of the fortifications. So the remit of the project will be limited to an upgrade of the facades and the reorganisation of access to the housing estate and parking. €1.465 million are being allocated for the project.

Residents have been ordered to removed illegal structures built over the years including walls, rooms, washrooms and kennels.

The third project is the physical regeneration of the San Gwann t’Ghuxa area. A budget of €134,000 has been allocated for this project, being carried out in partnership with the Cospicua council. It will include the landscaping of the area.

The fourth project is the regeneration of the area around Dar Andrew, an independent living centre for disabled people.

Paving will be standardised and the parking reorganised while accessibility to the home would be improved. A budget of €76,000 is being allocated for this project.

The last project is the creation of a feeder bus route for the Cottonera area, as part of the national bus transport system.

Mr Chetcuti said the permits for the regeneration of Dock 1 and Xatt ir-Risq were already in hand and the tenders had been issued and were being adjudicated.

Tenders for the remaining works would to be issued pending planning permits, which were expected to be in hand within the coming weeks.

He said that while the San Gwann t’Ghuxa project would be completed by the end of this month, the rest of the project would be completed by the end of 2011.

Housing Authority chairman Charles Borg said this was a project with an integrated approach. The authority had met the more than 90 families who were to be affected, some of them more than others, and it made a commitment to provide them with alternative accommodation. This was, however, being dealt with on a case by case basis.