More industrial zones

Abstract

MEPA's official numbers state that our industrial zones constitute five million square metres of land, or two per cent of our surface area. Such a statistic must surely place us among the upper European echelons of industrial land use. Despite this, and despite our limited surface area, the Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and the Self-Employed, Edwin Vassallo, announced recently that Parliament will soon requisition the placing within development zones of seven zones around the islands, totalling more than 85 tumoli of land, for the development of micro-enterprise parks. The earmarked zones girdle the islands, from Naxxar (t'Alla w Ommu), to Ghaxaq, Zabbar, Mosta, Mellieha, Mgarr and Gozo (Ghajnsielem). Some of the sites chosen abut on ecologically important sites like the t'Alla w Ommu in Naxxar, close to the Wied l-Ghasel valley restoration project area and peppered on its perimeter with karstic rock pools.