Last week the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) presented its draft Central Malta Local Plan for consultation.
This draft local plan covers several localities, including Attard, Balzan, Birkirkara, Gharghur, Hamrun, Iklin, Lija, Mosta, Naxxar, Qormi and St Venera.
The document is important to the FOI because a number of industrial estates are located in the area covered by the plan. Furthermore, the Central Zone also has a high concentration of warehousing space.
In fact, Qormi alone has around 40 per cent of all Malta's warehousing. Suffice it to say that the total number of jobs provided in the Central Zone accounts for 16 per cent of the national employment market.
However, it is estimated that the number of economically active persons living in the central area is higher than the amount of jobs in the region. Several of the economically active persons in the Central Zone work in the Inner Harbour Area and rely on transportation to their place of work.
"Public transport should serve all industrial areas at specific time-tables to coincide with factories' hours of work." This was stressed by FOI Council member and chairman of the FOI Environment Committee Godwin C. Micallef during a meeting held with MEPA officials.
It was agreed during the meeting that the Authority should identify bodies that would be responsible for implementing this plan and that priorities should also be set with short, medium and long-term targets.
Mr Micallef also emphasised the importance of involving all stakeholders in the Environment Management Plans. Furthermore, he stressed that it was crucial that utilities to industrial estates would be planned for present and future needs.
Another important point the FOI official raised during the meeting related to the very layout of industrial estates. The Federation believes that firms operating in the same or related sectors should be located at the same industrial estate, ideally served by a closely located administration building providing them with support services when needed.
This grouping would also facilitate clustering opportunities. Furthermore, the FOI believes that industrial estates should be dedicated purely to manufacturing activities.
The FOI representative suggested that the Authority should conduct a detailed re-examination of industrial areas.