Is the aquarium project going to sink?

Over the past few years, the residents of St Paul’s Bay were promised an aquarium project. This project will raise the profile of the locality and will be a crowd puller. Despite these promises, however, this project seems to be a long way off from being implemented.

This is not the first time that projects have been promised yet were either implemented many years after the promise was made or, as in the case of the Qawra multi-storey car park, this important project remains on the drawing board.

The Prime Minister himself confirmed on July 13 in Parliament that the aquarium project is being implemented by the Malta Tourism Authority and is being co-financed through EU structural funds.

Can the relevant authorities therefore explain the delays on this project and inform the residents of St Paul’s Bay as to the stage reached?

Can the authorities also confirm or otherwise that the EU funds allocated to the project will no longer remain available if it is not started by the end of this year?

Can the authorities also inform residents if studies have been carried out on the project to ensure the maximum possible number of car spaces?

Can the Nationalist led council of St Paul’s Bay inform residents of pressures it is applying to assure that the project, which is being financed through a public-private partnership agreement, is completed within the shortest time possible?