Parliamentary Secretary for Public Dialogue and Information, Chris Said, today announced the 20 local councils who will be benefiting from €565,000 in special funds for particular local needs. This fund is a financial contribution being given to local councils in addition to the direct allocation of 28 million euros that the government passed to local councils this year.

Dr Said said that in the process of consultation, local councils showed that many localities had areas where there were particular problems. Therefore it had been decided to introduce special funds in addition to a direct allocation to these localities.

37 local council applied for the special funds and 20 councils qualified for the aid. The councils that are benefiting are Valletta, Victoria, Cospicua, Birzebbuga, Floriana, Fontana, Marsa, Marsascala, Mellieha, Sliema, Msida, Munxar, Nadur, Paola, St Julians, San Lawrenz, Sliema, Xghajra, Floriana, Zebbug, Gozo and St. Paul’s Bay.

The evaluation board, took several factors into consideration over the problems presented, if the Council’s budget is sufficient to actuate statutory responsibilities, and if the Council has income from other sources.

The funds allocated were aimed at specific aspects such as: capital cities (Valletta and Victoria), tourist areas (such as Mellieha, Xlendi, Munxar, Sliema and St Julian’s, St Paul’s Bay and Zebbug, Marsalforn) central locations (such as Marsa, Msida, Paola, Floriana), and special problems (such Cospicua, Birzebbugia, Fontana, Mqabba, Nadur and Xghajra).

The types of projects chosen to focus on were waste collection, cleaning and maintenance.

Permalink: Local Council’s benefit from funds for areas with special needs