Malta’s fourth Access Community centre is set to open in Msida over the coming weeks, providing residents in the area with a one-stop shop for a range of community services.

Family Minister Chris Said announced the upcoming opening of the Msida centre during a visit he paid to the Valletta Access centre as part of its three year anniversary celebrations.

Plans are also afoot for two further Access centres to open, one in Gozo and another in Birkirkara.

Access centres in Valletta, Birgu and Qawra allow members of the public to access social security, Sedqa, Appogg, Agencija Sapport and employment-related services all under one roof.

Dr Said lauded the centres, saying they were proving to be a great success. Throughout 2011, the Valletta centre had processed over 16,800 social security interventions, with 5,000 people applying for employment training courses and more than 6,500 people registering for work through the centre.

A further 112 people had used the Valletta centre to access housing services without having to resort to the housing authority’s Floriana headquarters, the minister said.

He praised the social workers manning the centre, whose job it was to identify and tackle social problems before they escalated, as well as the various members of staff who kept the centre going on a day-to-day basis.