TeatruMalta to provide local actors chance to act professionally – Culture minister

Culture minister Owen Bonnici said that the planned TeatruMalta would follow in the footsteps of the ZfinMalta dance troupe set up last year, in giving Malta’s cultural industry a name internationally.

Speaking at the Gvern li JIsma public consultation, Bonnici said that the initiative would select a group of actors and allow them to practise their craft professionally rather than just as a hobby, allowing them the chance to prepare and set up shows both for local and international audiences.

“Moves like these will mean that Malta gets an unprecedented advertisement abroad, encouraging tourists to visit the country for various reasons,” Bonnici said.

He added that Malta would also host an international arts council summit next year and that the coming year would also see a vast number of events and projects leading up to Valletta 2018.

“There is quite some work to be done to achieve projects by 2018 but we are also working to ensure that this year leaves a strong cultural legacy to be enjoyed in later years,” he said, adding that the government wanted culture to be a source of employment and that there are already 11,000 people in the industry.

He added that a record €52.5 million has been allocated to the creative industry for the government’s 2016 Budget, which will make up around 1.4% of total state expenditure for the year, with 40% of funds being dedicated to restoration and heritage projects.
 

“We are also open to receiving suggestions and proposals from the private sector about redeveloping certain historical sites to be used as entertainment spaces, “he said referring to the already finished restoration of Fort St. Elmo as an example.

Discussing the justice reform, Bonnici said that mediation was one of the ways to further drop pending court cases and make case resolution a speedier process.

“We aim to encourage people to use this method as it is cheaper and less formal, and it would help to speed up case resolution.

He added that an education campaign was needed to change mentalities first and foremost of lawyers themselves who were used to settling things in court.

“A move towards mediation would mean that the process is much cheaper, efficient and much less formal,” he added.

Bonnici also spoke about the drug law reform and explained how the reform had presented addicts with the opportunity to voluntarily seek out the rehabilitation programme for part of their sentence.

Bonnici added  however that further developments were needed to make sure that victims of addiction who have already been through the programme don’t have to finish off their sentence in prison again as this might go against their rehabilitation process.

Parliamentary secretary for local government Stefan Buontempo announced that the government was investing in a €30,000 fund support use of bicycles on the roads of various localities.

Buontempo also spoke about the local enforcement system agency (LESA) which sought to re-brand and re-purpose the role of local wardens from people who merely dished out tickets to someone there to educate and help  keep order in society.

He added that the government aimed to continue giving local governments more power to determine what health services were needed according to their locality’s individual needs as well as to provide educational services according to the needs of society.

“We have already created around 55 training on a local level and some 3,000 children attended ICT courses offered by local councils this summer.”