How many men does it take to change a lightbulb? Well, contrary to the old joke, only one – Keith Fenech – and it was actually 45 bulbs.

Mr Fenech was appointed the chief executive officer of the Mrieħel Enterprise Zone Foundation last August, taking over the reins of the organisation set up in March 2016 as a ‘joint venture’ between the government, represented by Projects Malta, and 18 operators from the private sector.

He knew the area well – he had spent some 20 years working for Methode – and was well aware of its shortcomings, shortcomings which had defied various attempts to solve over the decades.

Fixing the faulty street lighting was just one example of what was needed: an empowered individual with the backing of both the government and the weight of businesses like Farsons (which gave the foundation offices for 40 years free of charge), PwC and Gasan.

It took one meeting with Enemalta’s chairman Fredrick Azzopardi to get the lights fixed, but Mr Fenech did not stop there and has identified that another 78 new lamps are needed to complement the ones already there. And looking ahead, the foundation is planning to issue a call for LED lighting for the long term.

The foundation gets its clout not only from its founders but also from good old cash. The government promised to match the endowment ‘fees’ paid by the members into the foundation, up to a maximum of €400,000 a year for three years. The original members paid up €5,000 each, with the government matching that €90,000. However, Mr Fenech refused to let the rest of the government’s money slip through his fingers and managed to persuade it to put €330,000 towards resurfacing of the notoriously treacherous roads.

“It is the first time that we have managed to get something moving in 25 years!” he said, shaking his head. “We spent €8,000 as an emergency measure to fill the worst potholes and have now identified four roads to be resurfaced over the coming weeks. They need to be completely rebuilt, one day. But one thing at a time. We did also manage to persuade the authorities to bring the Mrieħel Bypass higher up the ranking of Ten-T projects funded by the EU – meaning that it will be tackled before 2025, and not after,” he said.

One of the problems with Mrieħel – as opposed to other industrial estates – is that almost all the land is privately owned (not to mention that it falls under no fewer than three local councils). Only the former Dowty site belongs to the government, currently being developed as a zone for food production.

The zone is enormous – the same size as Valletta – and has been defined for the purpose of the foundation as spanning from the Flamingo offices all the way to the Malta Financial Services Authority, with two small pockets of residential areas excluded.

With hardly any space on which to develop permanent car parking, Keith Fenech came up with an interim solution

Within that area are an enormous range of operators, from top financial services firms and banks, to light industry and warehouses.

That was actually one of Mr Fenech’s first questions: who are they? A survey was commissioned from Misco which found that there were no fewer than 255 operators, of which 175 were microenterprises employing fewer than 10 employees.

With only 18 on board at the outset – some of which only had land in Mrieħel and not operations – his challenge was to persuade the rest to pay an endowment to the foundation. His best argument was to show them that this would be worth their while and he set about quick wins even before his actual contract started.

“Fly-tipping and dumping is a serious problem in the area and needed immediate action. You cannot expect the local councils to pay for this service together with the residential waste, as is happening today,” he insisted.

He decided to first clean up the area of accumulated rubbish and then to find a long-term solution. Over four weekends in July and August, 186 tons of waste were collected – including abandoned boats and even cars – making a significant difference. It is now working with the Cleansing Department on a pilot project over six months to collect waste on Friday afternoons, covering east and west on alternate weeks, part paid by the foundation. The time will be used to identify what the waste is, so that a suitable permanent solution can be found, which will include door to door collections, bulk waste, sweeping and street washing – and how much it will cost.

He also started to look at the problems faced by employees: lack of parking and no alternative as public transport is limited to the outskirts of this vast site.

With hardly any space on which to develop permanent car parking, Mr Fenech came up with an interim solution: he identified four pieces of undeveloped land scattered across Mrieħel whose owners did not intend to touch for at least three years, and is now negotiating with them. Malta Industrial Parks, in the meantime, is working on at least one permanent one.

Public transport might be easier to solve. A survey was carried out which found that over three-quarters used their own transport to get to work – and almost half of the respondents said there was nothing which would entice them to use public transport. However, 19 per cent claimed that direct routes from their hometowns to Mrieħel might encourage them to leave their cars at home – a statistic that has now been fed back to Malta Public Transport for consideration. In the meantime, more bus stops within Mrieħel are being looked at.

The foundation has already outgrown its remit and at the recent annual general meeting it was decided to give it more powers to procure on its own behalf. The board of administrators – chaired by Louis Farrugia – also agreed to establish three different endowment bands for operators to become members, based on the number of employees as well as the footprint occupied. Discounts are even being offered in the early years to encourage take-up.

Since so many of the tenants are microenterprises, the government is also putting up €50,000 to pay for their endowments, while part of PA fees for applications in the economic zone will also go to the foundation.

That still leaves around 80 tenants who will need to be persuaded, not all of whom have welcomed the intrusion.

Mr Fenech is not deterred. He is working on signage, a stormwater plan, input into a master plan to be driven by the Planning Authority and new branding.

Will it be enough? Only time will tell, but with several highrises and a comprehensive business park planned, the foundation has not come a moment too soon.