Santa Venera tunnels roof garden project to cost more than €35 million

Roofing over the gap leading to the Santa Venera tunnels and building a garden at street level will cost €35 million, Miriam Dalli has told parliament.

The Environment Minister said that geotechnical investigations of the ground and a number of other studies have concluded that the project can be implemented.

She was replying to a parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Darren Carabott, who asked whether the project, originally announced a few years ago was still on the table and whether there was a timeline for its completion.

Dalli did not give a timeline but said discussions are underway between Wasteserv and the Planning Authority. The project is being fronted by GreenServ, an urban greening initiative that falls within Wasteserv.

“The project is currently being discussed in greater detail and these will be released when the procurement process kicks off,” Dalli said, adding the works are estimated to cost more than €35 million.

The original idea behind the project had been floated by Alternattiva Demokratika’s youth branch several years ago and was later picked up by Labour ministers Jose Herrera and Aaron Farrugia.

The Santa Venera project is one of several large urban greening projects identified in the Labour Party’s election manifesto for which the government will dedicate a whopping €700 million over the next seven years. Other such projects include the transformation of the milk factory in Hamrun into a public garden and the construction of an underpass in front of San Gwann’s parish church to create a garden and open space at street level.

SLIDESHOW: See how green projects pledged by Labour will transform several localities including Floriana, San Ġwann and Santa Venera