Marsa Open Centre site to be transformed into administrative building

Plans for the Marsa Open Centre to be transformed into an administrative building used by the Marsa community are underway. 

Earlier this week on TVM’s Xtra, Marsa Mayor, Josef Azzopardi announced that the building no longer houses migrants. 

In 2017, it was reported that the Marsa Open Centre was to be closed, in line with an electoral pledge by the Labour Party, and all residents were to be relocated. However, issues of security, both in Marsa and neighbouring localities such as Qormi and Ħamrun, persisted.

In a statement, the Home Affairs Ministry said that the building’s sports facilities, as well as other areas are set to be used by the community and will be administered by the Marsa Local Council. 

The ministry said that the local council had already been granted access to the building, and that it had already started hosting events there. 

On a visit to the site, home affairs minister Byron Camilleri stated, “The Marsa community has carried a disproportionate weight,” noting that the building’s closure did not, “transfer weight onto other localities around the country.”

Addressing the delay in the facility’s closure, Camilleri said that government wanted to make sure that this was done without affecting the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers' duties.