‘It’s All About The Money’: Questions Arise Over €14 Million Spend On ‘World Class’ Indoor Pool In Malta
A new indoor pool being built in one of the “best complexes in the Mediterranean” is turning some heads over its €14 million investment price tag.
The pool, within the Kottonera Sports Complex, is aiming for an international standard, with Sports Minister Clifton Grima hailing it as a “state-of-the-art that indoor pool that will give excellent opportunities to the aquatic sector of sports in our country”.
The design features a curved ceiling that was implemented to “compliment” the nearby bastions in the area as well as minimise any noise pollution.
It will be Olympic-sized, meaning it is 5,000 sqm2, with a wooden roof of 44m as well as glass walls on each side. It’ll also have the latest technology to ensure it can be used for international events.
Though Malta has made some impressive gains in swimming, not least led by Malta’s very own Olympian Neil Agius, some people balked at the price tag when the news broke online.
“It’s all about the money, money, money. Why don’t you start creating some decent open spaces for Maltese families?” said one mother.
Motorist fans stepped in, with one saying that “the racetrack for cars and motorcycles gets mentioned whenever it’s election time” but nothing ever comes of it.
“And then a pool in a resource centre for children with special needs has been broken for seven months and when you call them to fix it they complain that there’s no funds,” lamented another mother.
Others were worried that though the pool will be built on taxpayer money, it would eventually change hands and be taken over by a private operator.
Gozitans also chimed in, asking: “where’s our pool?”
What do you make of this new “state-of-the-art” pool and it’s price tag?
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