St Paul’s Bay residents are wondering whether plans for better educational facilities in their locality have been put on the back burner, with the current school already at saturation point.
Education Minister Evarist Bartolo announced in 2015 that a new primary school would be built in Qawra to cater for the rapid increase in the population of the St Paul’s Bay area.
The site has been left abandoned since last October, and an FTS billboard, which said the project would be completed by the end of 2017, was removed
Subsequently, a large plot of land close to the Qawra parish church was earmarked by the Foundation for Tomorrow Schools.
A development application for building a school comprising 391 parking spaces at basement level, 29 classrooms and ancillary facilities like multipurpose rooms and a gymnasium was submitted in December 2015 and approved last October.
To speed up works, a separate application was filed last January to complete the excavation by the time the permit was issued.
Once the green light was given by the Planning Authority, excavation works started in May last year but came to a sudden halt a few months later. The site has been left abandoned since last October, and an FTS billboard, which said the project would be completed by the end of 2017, was removed.
An FTS spokesman told this newspaper last February the project had fallen behind due to complications in the tendering process. However, sources within the Education Ministry told the Times of Malta allegations about corruption and fraud within the FTS also affected the project.
Though we were promised that the first intake of students would happen at the start of this scholastic year, all there is so far is a large crater
Education Ministry sources said that, as from this scholastic year, a number of students would have to be transferred to the Għargħur primary because the school in St Paul’s Bay was at saturation level. “However, if the Qawra school is not ready by next year, even that measure would not be enough,” they said.
In a Facebook post, St Paul’s Bay mayor Graziella Galea vented her frustration that the project had stalled despite the pressing circumstances.
“Though we were promised that the first intake of students would happen at the start of this scholastic year, all there is so far is a large crater.
“The last information we heard was that on-site tests were being carried out to verify the strength of the rocks,” she said.