After 32 years of isolation, the pigs on the tiny protected island of Comino will soon have a new home in a government-run farm in Għammieri.

The existing pig farm at Għammieri will be expanded according to a permit approved by the planning authority board yesterday. The project includes the building of an artificial insemination centre, a laboratory, storage facilities, offices and a livestock farm that will be used to quarantine imported breeding stock, before distributing it to other farms.

However, the permit also requests the developer, the Pig Breeders’ Cooperative, to vacate the Comino farm, and clear and decommission the facility, including the sewage system.

The complex became operational in 1979 after a swine fever epidemic had wiped out most of Malta’s pig population.

As a Natura 2000 site, Comino forms part of a network of European nature reserves that enjoy special protection due to their ecological importance.