Malta Will Reclaim Land Within Five Years, Minister Pledges In Endorsement Of Singapore And Hong Kong Models
Malta will start reclaiming land this legislature, new Infrastructure and Transport Minister Aaron Farrugia pledged, arguing that such a move is crucial if the economy is to keep on growing.
“Land reclamation will no longer remain a sentence that we see in every electoral manifesto but is never implemented,” Farrugia said in Parliament yesterday. “Under this legislature, we will have the opportunity for land reclamation to become a reality. Malta needs it, the economy needs it and the government will therefore aim in this direction.”
In his speech, Farrugia also admitted that he wants Malta – which is already the seventh-most densely populated country in the world – to cater to even more people.
“My vision is to have infrastructure worthy of the 21st century to cater for the new economy of the 21st century,” he said. “We must cater for more numbers in this country. If we attract more tourists, which I hope we do, and therefore increase our population, we must cater to them.”
“That is the model I will be following, with a frame of mind that industry and the economy will keep on growing and that the numbers will keep on growing.”
He said he will cast an eye on the economic models adopted by Singapore and Hong Kong, two small Asian countries which are both more densely populated than Malta.
The top ten most densely populated countries in the world
Both Singapore and Hong Kong are renowned for aggressively pursuing land reclamation projects and both have built an entire airport on reclaimed land.
Malta’s government has been mooting the idea of land reclamation for several years, with former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in 2018 describing it as a “very large environmental priority” seeing as the country was running out of space where to dump construction waste.
In 2019, then Environment Minister Jose Herrera said he intended to present Cabinet with plans outlining ideal sites in Malta for land reclamation.
However, nothing ever materialised in the coming years until the idea was resurrected in the PL’s electoral manifesto, which pledged to “push forward these kind of projects, which can be beneficial to Malta, including when it comes to producing clean energy”.
Cover photo: Left: Infrastructure Minister Aaron Farrugia, Right: A waterfall at Singapore’s Changi Airport, which was built on reclaimed land
Do you think Malta should start reclaiming land?
READ NEXT: Ryan Schembri Transferred €25 Million To Dubai Account, Maksar Brother Told Police
