€1 million allocated for local council projects

Owen Bonnici launches new €1 million fund for local councils • Video by Chris Mangion

Justice minister Owen Bonnici today launched a new initiative which will see local councils benefitting from a €1 million fund for capital projects.

While insisting that government believes in local councils and aims to make them more sustainable, Bonnici warned councils that they "cannot spend more money than they have available."

The initiative aims to incentivise local councils to create new and original projects. However, Bonnici pointed out that preference will be given to capital projects which generate money, which would then be used to finance the fund in the following years.

Asked whether this would be of determent to social projects which would not generate any income, Bonnici said such projects will not be disqualified but “projects which generate revenue will be given priority” especially if they involve the private sector.

Making reference to the 2013 report by the Auditor General, Bonnici said that councils' debt amounts to around €22million. “Our government intends to change the way that funds are managed and distributed,” he said. 

“Today we inaugurated a new board of experts that will deem which projects should benefit from funding.” said the Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government, Stefan Buontempo. The board will consist of Mario Azzopardi as chairperson, Dr. Josette Caruana, Perit Giovanni Farrugia, Carmelo Farrugia, Catherine Tabone, Lawyer Audrey Vassallo, and Rossella Farrugia as assistant secretary. 

Buontempo continued by saying that the board would give precedence to projects which have the potential to render a profit back to the fund. The funds made from the chosen projects will in the long-run assist future projects.

Local councils are asked to put forward their capital projects and to also identify other sources of funding for their projects. Buontempo made a particular reference to public private partnerships, donations as well as sponsorships. “The projects will be chosen both for their originality, and for their ability to gain funding from other sources aside from the government fund.”

Bonnici then said that the government aims to avoid the white elephants that were created during the previous governments. “This initiative will increase the responsibility given to local councils; it will ensure projects are plausible and can in fact be completed, and it will make sure that funds are used for their intended purposes, while at the same time ensuring that local councils can retain their autonomy.”

No news about Magistrate Carol Peralta yet

Asked whether he knows about any developments in the Carol Peralta case, Bonnici said that he was unaware of any disciplinary action taken by the Commission for the Administration of Justice as these decisions are not made public. Bonnici had filed a complaint about the Magistrate’s behaviour following reports that he had held a party within the law courts in 2013. However Bonnici concluded that he hopes that the commission will make a decision about this case as soon as possible.