Issues • 10 November 2002

The great outdoors…and the lack thereof

Although the recent weather may belie the fact, the outdoors season is now upon us. This week’s rain has brought new life to the Islands’ green areas and autumn’s cooler weather will soon be luring families, friends and the like out of doors for picnics, bicycle lessons for the kids and impromptu football matches.

But the question at hand is whether Malta’s gardens and parks provide enough space for these, and other, recreational activities. The popular answer is a clear ‘no’, with no fewer than 94 per cent of respondents to the question answering in the negative in this week’s MaltaToday I-poll survey.

This common view is further reinforced by taking a Sunday drive along the coast road, St George’s Bay and other parts of the Island where scores of families can be seen picnicking along the roadside, seemingly for lack of a better place to spend their Sunday afternoons out of doors.

Malta’s limited spatial considerations, of course, figure largely into the equation and one could never expect Malta to host anything along the lines of New York’s Central Park, London’s Hyde Park or Milan’s Sempione.

However, the need for increased and better quality outdoor recreational space is undoubtedly a pressing matter. So much of the country’s green areas have been rendered inhospitable either by excessive dumping and littering or by hunting activities that have converted many of Malta’s best areas of natural beauty, fresh air and greenery into the equivalent of a war zone.

Not all are fortunate enough to have a garden to retreat to when the confines of the four walls of the average 8.8 rooms per household across the Islands becomes more of a cage than a living space.

The fact that 27.4 per cent of the population, according to a recent survey carried out by the National Statistics Office, live in flats further reinforces the need for more public spots for outdoor recreation. More lucky are the 37.6 per cent that live in terraced houses, 24.4 per cent in maisonettes and the 8.4 per cent living in semi-detached houses, fully detached houses, bungalows and converted farmhouses – most of which presumably have the space for at least a small garden.

In reply to criticism along such lines, the powers that be would, of course, point to relatively recent projects such as Independence Gardens and the embellishment of the Sliema/St Julian’s area as examples of Government’s green thumb tendencies. But such projects have fallen well short of being spread out across the Islands in a uniform manner.

Yes, just about every community can claim a park, garden or playground but in many cases these fall well short of the needs of the immediate community in terms of space, upkeep and facilities.

However, certain private developments underway at the moment promise to deliver much needed public green areas.

The Lm140 million Manoel Island and Tigne Point development project is a case in point, and one that could serve as an example for similar projects in the future.

In the case of the Manoel Island segment of the residential/commercial project the developers have only been allowed to develop 22 per cent of the area entrusted to them, and which they have paid for, while the remainder will be retained cultural structures – including Fort Manoel - and green areas. The Tigne Point residential and commercial premises, meanwhile, will encompass just some 45 per cent of the total area, with the remaining area also going toward cultural and green areas.

Both segments of the project are expected to hold numerous gardens, promenades and walkways open to public.

But more good news has emerged from the public sector as well recently, with Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami, speaking on Thursday, hailing an initiative that he said he hopes would be the first step toward metamorphosing Malta into a "garden city".

Fenech Adami was referring to Malta’s first public-private partnership scheme, which aims to embellish Malta's, parks, gardens, roadsides and other public areas over a relatively short time frame through a combination of private enterprise and government workers.

The consortium - chaired by Peter Calamatta and made up of The Garden Shop Nursery, Dr Adrian's Garden Centre, the Polidano Group, and Wigi Micallef - will manage the workers who continue to receive their paycheques from the government.

Five initial projects have been identified for embellishment, starting next week with the embellishment of the areas around the Spencer Monument in Blata l-Bajda.

Other areas given immediate priority include Floriana's St Anne Street, the environs of the War Memorial and the Qormi and Sta Venera bypasses. Gardens such as Argotti and San Anton, Upper and Lower Barrakka will also be beautified. Tourism spots and arterial roads are also to be given prominence. Most of the areas in question will be cleared of rubble, automatic irrigation systems will be installed, while and turf and plants will also be planted.

But exactly how far the initiative will go toward giving the public the sorely needed improvements to Malta’s public outdoor areas remains to be seen. In the meantime, make sure you get down to the shoulder of the coast road early this morning – the best spots are being occupied earlier and earlier these days.