Paola Square contractor has 15 months to complete €3 million regeneration project

Progress had been made on the €3 million refurbishment of Paola's Antoine De Paul Square, with works set to start in the coming days, Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties Helena Dalli has announced.

The tender for the project has been chosen and the works are expected to start within a week, once the timeframe for bidders to appeal lapses, around 5 days from now.

The comments came during a press conference in Zabbar about several local projects led by the Consultative Council for the South this morning.

CCTV cameras were recently installed in the Zabbar square, after reports of theft, vandalism and drug abuse occurring in the area were received from concerned residents. “It's a small project, one of many like the reading garden in Santa Lucia," Dalli said. "These help bring bring communities together and to live in peace of mind.”

Before news cameras arrived, the minister chatted with several locals at the nearby open-air market."This is truly a government that listens. We go to localities and listen to people's everyday problems," Dalli later said.

Announced in April 2015, the Antoine de Paul Square project is intended to regenerate and embellish the area.
The project needed time to relocate the trees in the square, which she said, had now been completed without the loss of any trees. 
But no timeframe for the completion of the works could be given, reporters were told.

"It is important to understand that things had to be done correctly without harming the environment and after the necessary permits have been issued," the minister said.

She pointed out that the contract for the works gave the contractor a year and three months to complete the work adding that no contractor wants to face fines. Moreover, she said that the project was not easy to execute because of the square's proximity to the Hypogeum and prohibitions on excavations in the area.