By Daniel Ellul
The government plans to build a permanent theme park beside the Ta’ Qali Crafts Village, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri said on Thursday. Schembri said building the park close to the crafts village would also increase footfall in the area. The Ta’ Qali site is designed to attract visitors, and tourists in particular, to buy handmade crafts and watch artisans at work. However, despite record tourist numbers, what has been redubbed as an “artisan village” is not a popular destination. Tourists have even described the attraction as a “ghost town”. “One of the challenges over there is to attract more people – tourists and Maltese – to the area, and that’s why we have a plan to build a family theme park adjacent to the crafts village,” Schembri told Times of Malta on the sidelines of a media event. “The aim is to attract families who, after visiting the park, pass through the crafts village,” he said. The permanent attraction will eventually occupy the same site where a temporary month-long fair – Luna Park – is held. “The work on the tendering process is at an advanced stage, and definitely by the end of the year we will be publishing a tender so that area becomes a theme park of the highest quality that is there on a permanent basis,” he said. The park will be tied to Malta’s history and culture. So, will the park have roller coasters? “Don’t imagine that we’re going to have something like Disneyland in our country. Everything is relative to our size, but within our limitations we will have something that is of the highest quality, that will also be tied to the crafts village,” Schembri said. Schembri said the government has transformed the crafts village into one that is pleasant to visit. “That included several phases, including works that the government had to undertake – that phase has long been complete.” He said the private operators also had to carry out works to change their metal huts into Maltese stone buildings. “In that phase there were some delays, also because of the pandemic.” He said the government’s industrial land manager – INDIS – offered to intervene and help complete works, and in some instances those buildings are now ready. “A number of operators, however, were given land and unfortunately, they did not develop that land. In such cases, we have had to start legal proceedings to take back the land.” There are around 16 cases to take back the land, Schembri said.