The Gaia Foundation, one of the three non-governmental organisations contracted by the Rural Affairs Ministry to manage the Majjistral Park through the Heritage Parks Federation, has expressed its concern over the ministry’s 'abandonment of the park'.
He said the ministry was persistently failing to honour its financial commitments related to management fees for 2011 and last year.
HPF treasurer and Gaia CEO Rudolf Ragonesi said in a statement that the management fees for the park had never been paid on time since the signing of the contract five years ago, causing serious delays in the implementation of plans and restoration works on site.
Despite various assurances over the last two years by the MRRA, the situation had deteriorated to an all time low, with the ministry falling two years in arrears.
In November, the HPF was promised full payment of the €140,000 arrears by January but instead it received, last Tuesday, €28,000, covering less than the first five months‘ fees for 2011.
Dr Ragonesi said that to make matters worse, following the successful transfer to the HPF of the derelict Ghajn Tuffieha Barracks and Ghajn Znuber Tower to augment the park, with the full support of the Lands Department, the federation commissioned the Manufacturing Services Department within the ministry to construct the apertures for the buildings to prevent further vandalism and squatting, but the MSD refused to carry out such work unless it was paid in full up front, thus refusing to allow set off against the fees owed to the federation by the ministry.
As a result, the windows, which would cost €10,500 were not installed owing to the serious cash flow problem. On July 2, 2012, however, the federation paid MSD €5,112 up front to instal doors for the barracks, yet these were not delivered.
When chased, sources within the MSD told the federation it had other priorities and could not yet deliver, Dr Ragonesi said.
The Gaia Foundation called upon the ministry to honour its contractual obligations to pay all the management fees for the park without further delay and to deliver the doors for the barracks that were fully paid almost eight months ago.