European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is set to visit Malta on Friday but has been warned not to fall prey to propaganda from the Maltese government after a trip to a hastily patched-up but still unfinished primary school was announced.
Von der Leyen is set to touch down in Malta on Friday for the MED9 meeting of Southern European EU member states. During her visit, she will be whisked away to neighbouring Gozo to visit the supposedly recently refurbished Nadur Primary School.
Independent MEP candidate Arnold Cassola sent an open letter to von der Leyen on Thursday, warning her not to be used for public relations purposes or to trick the Maltese people.
“The works are far from ready, and everything is just a PR show, utilising your presence in Malta,” Cassola wrote.
Part of the school that Ursula von der Leyen will not see on her visit on Friday.
Photos accompanying the open letter show that many of the school’s rooms are unfinished, missing doors and windows, with floors covered in debris and boxes of building materials in the corridors.
Another image shows scaffolding still in place around parts of the exterior and rubbish discarded on the ground.
The extensive refurbishment of the school was first announced in July 2021, with works set to start in the coming months and be completed within one year. Initially, students were to be relocated from the school while work was carried out, but this raised concerns from parents over the impact on their education.
A far cry from the halls of Berlaymont.
Parents told The Times the Ministry threatened them that if they continued to oppose the plans, the Ministry would simply drop it and refurbish another school.
Then, in January 2023, after 18 months of delays and criticism from the opposition, it was announced the project would commence without students having to vacate. They would simply be shunted from class to class as sections of the school were renovated and completed.
Minister for Gozo Clint Camilleri said, “By the end of the year, we will be giving back a school of the highest level.”
The project is being funded with European Recovery Funds worth almost €5 million, and Camilleri said, “We will be completing this educational project on time.”
While the end-of-year deadline is not yet up, the images clearly show that the school is not ready to be inspected, let alone visited by a high-level European official.
Furthermore, Cassola continued that the road outside of the school, which has been left in a state of disrepair for more than 30 years despite pleas from residents, was “patched up” on Thursday.
“The important thing is not to impress citizens but to impress you,” he said.
When ‘energy efficiency’ means having little in the way of working, finished electrics.
The politician said the government and von der Leyen would only tour the finished part of the school, not the parts shown in the photos.
When finished, the school is expected to benefit from a completely refurbished interior and exterior, including new open spaces, a dance studio, a music room, a library, a theatre studio and art classes. It will also facilitate better accessibility and be more energy efficient.
But for now, Cassola said that staff do not even have access to a private toilet, there no cupboards in classrooms, and the lift does not function.
Willkommen zum MAFIA LAND:
Why not take Her to the latest built school, instead?
Perhaps visits to guest houses/residences/garages/swimming pools of labour parliamentarians would be a clearer indicator
And to the Dingli Interpretation Centre. She can have a nice agro-touristic meal with EU and Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg over there, while he recounts to her how much work he has done in Dingli.
Will Ursula Von Der Leyen be given a tour of Dingli’s rural roads by Malta’s EU and Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg, who hails from Dingli?
He should show her Triq il-Bufula and Triq il-Qaws, in Dingli.
On Triq il-Bufula, while he was Roads Minister, EU funds were advertised by the Ministry for EU funds, then led by Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, and the Dingli Local Council, on rubble wall works. The works have since been completed, but there is no sign to inform the public about the use of EU funds. While works were ongoing, a magisterial inquiry was launched about the works and their funding. So were EU funds used as advertised, or has government told the inquiry that it would not be using the EU funds so as not to alert the EU of the abuse of EU funds?
The then Roads Minister should also show Von Der Leyen the tarmac on Triq il-Bufula, which although according to an official declaration by then Infrastructure Malta CEO Frederick Azzopardi to Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech were not EU funded, were carried out at the exclusion of a stretch of road which leads to several farms in the area. He should show Von Der Leyen the stretch of road left without tarmac on Triq il-Qaws and explain to her why he as the Minister from Dingli did not see to have that remaining stretch of road tarmacked like the stretch of road which serves the Pulvich Explosives area, using EU funds if need be. He should also explain why no EU funds were used on the works done in the other stretch of road.
Where are the Euro5 million? Anyone getting arrested? Anyone getting prosecuted? Anyone getting imprisoned? Anyone being made to pay any money back?
Huduwha il Fortina u spjagawlha kif art u bahar misruqa lill poplu Malti, tal Fortina “xtrawhom” bi prezz li King Silvio Schembri iddetta fil parlament.
Frau Von der Leyen mixed up the power cuts in summer and the need to invest in renewable sources.
The power outages in summer were due to weaknesses in the distribution system and not due to lack of energy sources.
Someone must have misinformed her.
One finds it hard to believe that Madame Von de Leyen can apparently be hoodwinked into accepting an ‘invitation’ of this sort!
Why not let the European Chief Commission know that there are no proper allocated spaces for subjects such as Music and Art classes in primary schools? I can suggest one such school which used to be ranked the best primary school in Malta!