Ħaż-Żebbuġ To Bring Back Street Play With Monthly Road Closures
Ħaż-Żebbuġ will close off certain streets to traffic every second Saturday of the month to give children space to play freely outdoors.
The Toroq Ħajjin – Playstreets Project, in collaboration with The Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society, aims to rekindle the joy and nostalgia of the childhood of earlier generations, when children used to play safely in the streets without fear of getting run over.
It will officially launch on Saturday 12th April between 1-4pm, and details of the specific streets that will be closed will be announced in advance by the Ħaż-Żebbuġ local council every month.
Mayor Steve Zammit Lupi said that members of the Ħaż-Zebbuġ children’s local council played a role in recommending the streets they would like to close off to traffic.
“We must keep children at the centre of our decisions,” Zammit Lupi said. “I am very excited that Ħaż-Żebbuġ will be the first Maltese local council to organise this project and I hope other localities will follow.”
President Emeritus Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, founder of the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society, praised the council for its initiative and said that play is a fundamental right for children and essential for their development.
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