{"id":84504,"date":"2026-05-27T14:24:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T12:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shopsofmalta.com\/malta\/media-not-invited-for-re-opening-of-buibba-square\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T14:24:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T12:24:00","slug":"media-not-invited-for-re-opening-of-buibba-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shopsofmalta.com\/malta\/media-not-invited-for-re-opening-of-buibba-square\/","title":{"rendered":"Media not invited for re-opening of Buġibba Square"},"content":{"rendered":"

Media not invited for re-opening of Buġibba Square<\/p>\n

The media – at least part of it, including The Malta Independent – on Tuesday was not invited for the opening of Buġibba Square, a regeneration project that was hastily finished in the last month to be ready before the election.<\/p>\n

The square was closed off for a year, much to the chagrin of restaurant owners and residents alike and, until April, was in a sorry state as the embellishment work stalled. A few weeks ago, The Malta Independent<\/strong><\/a> carried a report in which residents and business owners complained about the delay in the completion of the project.<\/p>\n

At the start of the election campaign, Prime Minister Robert Abela promised that the project would be completed by the end of May. Lo and behold, the work was expedited and the square was opened to the public last Tuesday.<\/p>\n

What was unexpected was that the media was not invited for the event.<\/p>\n

The public was informed of the re-opening through a Facebook post by Transport Minister Chris Bonett on Tuesday, and an official statement about the opening was only issued today, Wednesday, a day after the event took place.<\/p>\n

The project, which was initially set to cost €7 million, ended up costing the taxpayer more than €10 million, according to reports. It is likely that the government wanted to avoid questions about the delay and the costs.<\/p>\n

There was no mention of the cost in today’s government statement, which said that the project included the complete transformation of the square, surrounding roads and promenade, alongside a major upgrade of underground services. Water, drainage, electricity and telecommunications systems were replaced, with some services relocated into a newly built underground service tunnel to reduce the need for future road excavation works.<\/p>\n

A new rainwater collection system was also installed beneath the square and surrounding streets, directing water into a reservoir to be reused for irrigation of trees and plants. Rainwater passing through the system is filtered before discharge as part of the project’s environmental sustainability measures. New lighting, irrigation systems and a fountain were also installed.<\/p>\n

A substantial part of the works focused on rebuilding the promenade on new structural foundations and columns. The area was completed with the planting of trees and shrubs, as well as the installation of benches, shelters and other street furniture aimed at improving comfort for residents and tourists.<\/p>\n

Speaking during the inauguration, Foreign Affairs and Tourism Minister Ian Borg described the project as a major investment in one of Malta’s main tourist areas, adding that the benefits would also be felt by residents and workers in Buġibba, Qawra and St Paul’s Bay.<\/p>\n

Bonett said the project complemented wider transport initiatives, including the recently launched fast ferry service linking Buġibba with Sliema and Gozo, which he said had already carried more than 50,000 passengers in three weeks.<\/p>\n

\nRSS Feed Source: Independent Malta Media not invited for re-opening of Buġibba Square<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Media not invited for re-opening of Buġibba Square The media – at least part of it, including The Malta Independent – on Tuesday was not invited for the opening of Buġibba Square, a regeneration project…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2139],"tags":[1850],"class_list":["post-84504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-malta-news","tag-abatement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shopsofmalta.com\/malta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84504"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shopsofmalta.com\/malta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shopsofmalta.com\/malta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shopsofmalta.com\/malta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shopsofmalta.com\/malta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.shopsofmalta.com\/malta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shopsofmalta.com\/malta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shopsofmalta.com\/malta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shopsofmalta.com\/malta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}