Three schemes to promote sports as part of daily routine
Negotiations on €200 million sports and leisure village at White Rocks still underway
Three schemes aimed at encouraging people to take up sports as part of their daily routine were yesterday launched by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech and Sports Parliamentary Secretary Clyde Puli.
The schemes were announced in this year’s Budget and will serve as a foundation for the development of sport, Mr Puli said.
One of these initiatives, the bicycle subsidy scheme, was re-launched after a successful pilot study in 2008, in which around 1,920 people had benefited from €73,000.
This year, the government is allocating €50,000 for refunds on the purchase of bicycles. The refund will amount to 15.25 per cent of the purchase price, which is practically equivalent to the VAT refund, Mr Fenech said.
The 20/20 Sport Training Leave Scheme, launched for the public sector in 2009, was yesterday extended to the private sector. Mr Fenech said the government could not expect the private sector to shoulder the burden of its employees’ sports training.
The scheme allows prominent and national sports people to work 20 hours a week while spending another 20 hours training. A total of €150,000 has been earmarked for this year, which marks the 14th edition of The Games of the Small States of Europe.
In a third scheme, accredited sports associations will be given a 15.25 per cent refund on the purchase price of sports equipment.
Mr Puli said a €250,000 fund has been created for this purpose but various other schemes were also available through the Malta Sports Council. In the last two years, sports associations have benefited from 25 schemes and millions of euro have been allocated for assistance every year, he added.
Applications for participation in these schemes can be downloaded from www.finance.gov.mt and www.sportmalta.org.mt.
Meanwhile, when asked if there were any developments on the €200 million sports and leisure village at White Rocks, Mr Puli said negotiations were still under way.
“This issue should be treated with prudence so as to not jeopardise the present dialogue between shareholders,” Mr Puli stressed.
He said no definite deadline could be set for national projects. “When working on something so huge, one does not dare draw a fine line on when to end negotiations, and discussions for these projects take long,” he added.