MEUSAC to assist implementation of EU funded local council projects

Minister Chris Said announced that government is working so that, in the coming weeks, the Malta-EU Steering Action Committee will have experts in place to start assisting local councils carry out projects which successfully obtain EU funding.

Said was speaking at the Auberge de France in Birgu, which is currently being restored thanks to an EU funding project applied for by the Birgu Local Council. Said was flanked by Birgu Mayor John Boxall, and MEUSAC head Vanni Xuereb.

Said said that by means of this new 'service', local councils that obtain succesfully obtain EU funding would be better able to make the best possible use of that funding.

He added that this initiative is motivated by past experiences where, despite obtaining funding, projects are not managed in the best possible way, and as a result, EU funding is lost.

Said did not provide an exact time-frame of when this service would start, saying only that government would start working towards it in the coming weeks.

Said also spoke of how the existing co-financing fund, aimed at assisting local councils obtain local council projects, resulted in 60 projects receiving EU funding which represent a total investment of €18 million.

Said said that a number of years ago, government became aware that many local councils were unable to benefit from EU funding.

He explained that this was because when it came to substantial projects involving public land or public buildings, they simply lacked the funds.

This was because of how the EU often, when approving applications, granted EU funding for only a portion of the related costs.

Minister Said said that even in instances when EU funding was up to 85% of the project's cost, many local councils were unable to make good for the remaining 15%.

To address this issue, government launched a co-financing fund aimed at assisting local councils obtain the financing required to receive this sort of EU funding.

Said also spoke about the Malta-EU Steering Action Committee's (MEUSAC) success in assisting local councils and NGOs to obtain EU funding, welcoming those projects that over the past few years, allowed "local councils to restore dignity to Malta's buildings as well as to return their beauty."

He also praised the government's devolution initiative, saying that through it, government was able to return a number of historically valuable buildings to the respective local councils, to the benefit of the locality and its residents.