I agree with the Environment Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco that the various localities should invest in a more sustainable environment and improve quality of life. So it was heartening to read that the Local Council Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said announced that 12 localities are to benefit from more than €1.5 million through the Urban Improvement Fund.

What I consider a great pity is that the San Ġwann council is not going to benefit from these generous funds when we have at least three projects which have been planned for a long time and nothing has happened so far. Our village core includes a very shabby playing field with very limited space and games (some completely broken down) for the hundreds of children in our locality made up of more than 13,000 people.

This so-called playing field needs immediate upgrading and some kind of proper embellishment. In its present semi-abandonment it is far from being a recreational area for our many young families and their children.

We have been promised that our historical cart-ruts are going to be turned into an archaeological garden. They have been long identified as an asset for our locality but certainly not in the state they are in. It’s true that they are being kept clean and out of bounds for dog owners and those who used to throw rubbish. But they are in crying need of some kind of improvement and regeneration. Then there is the long-promised garden in Triq l-Istefanotis. How many plans, schemes and projections have been made in the past? For these last many years this miserable plot of land has been nothing but an abandoned field full of rubbish and pollution, a smelly haven for rats. I am sure the people who live in this street deserve better treatment.

San Ġwann council must have been clamouring for some kind of financial help to improve somehow our infrastructure. They should certainly grab the opportunity to tap into these funds, as well as the maintenance and community funds made available by the Housing Authority to upgrade some of the shabby blocks of flats in our locality.