€300,000 Park tal-Majjistral investment to ‘compensate for longer hunting hours’

The Environment and Resources Authority has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Park tal-Majjistral for a €300,000 rehabilitation project.

Environment Minister Jose Herrera said the government believed in environmental organisations and boards like the one managing the Majjistral Park and wanted to help them become more sustainable.

This investment, he said, was another step in valuing our natural capital. Most of the works will be carried out this year, he said, while other will take place over the coming two years.

The areas known as Xagħra l-Ħamra, Għajn Żnuber and Prajjiet will be restored and rehabilitated. Indigenous plants will be planted, alien species will be removed and the areas will be cleaned up from unwanted materials.  

Rubble walls will be restored, as will a water reservoir which is used for irrigation.

Some of the funds will go to promote the park, Herrera said, so that more people would be enticed to visit and experience the biodiversity there.  

The Minister was asked about the recent controversy surrounding the Majjistral Park, after the government had increased hunting hours in the area. This was done against the advice of the Majjistral Park federation.

He said that this arrangement was "compensate for the inconvenience" of the longer hours.

Herrera said he had spoken with NGOs and they had made counterproposals, including proposed investment in the park.

Simone Mizzi of Din l-Art Helwa, an eNGO that forms part of the federation, took issue with this statement, clarifying that the board had been asking for funding for the past ten years and that they could not be "bought."

The extended hunting times were approved by both government and Opposition in a vote taken late last year. Partit Demokratiku was the only political force to call for a return to 'normal' hours.  

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