Culture Ministry launches restoration scheme for local councils

At a press conference earlier today, Local Government minister Owen Bonnici said that cultural heritage strengthens our national identity.

“The government is working in order to give more importance to the safeguarding of national heritage and promote better awareness of the national identity,” Bonnici said.

“To this end, the Ministry for justice, culture and local government, through the office of the Restoration Directorate, is launching a scheme to assist local councils in the restoration of buildings and other immovable monuments of historic and/ or artistic value located within their delineated boundaries,” he announced.

Bonnici said that the scheme would be administered by the Restoration Directorate, which shall be solely responsible for executing the chosen restoration projects in a turnkey manner: following them from the initial planning phase (covering building surveys, drawing up and submission of MEPA development applications etc.) throughout their on-site execution up till project completion.

“These schemes have the aim of giving local councils more power to decide which projects to propose. Following the application process, a selection board will choose which projects to prioritise.”

Bonnici said that this process would not just give local councils more power, but it would also make the decision process more transparent.

Parliamentary secretary for local government Stefan Buontempo said that the government believed in local councils’ capability of affecting the communities. Among the possible applications for the project, Buontemopo listed fountains monuments, outdoor shrines and facades of important buildings among others.