90% of San Gwann residents will have an open space less than a 10 minute-walk from home

Mar 9 2023

Public Consultation regarding Vjal ir-Rihan project in San Ġwann

“About 90% of San Ġwann residents will have access to an open space less than a 10 minute-walk from their homes.”

Steve Ellul, the CEO of Project Green, said this during a public consultation meeting with residents of this locality, about the Agency’s proposed Vjal ir-Rihan open space project. This was the second consultation initiative about the project this month, following an earlier meeting with commercial entities operating in the same area.

Project Green will continue discussing this project with different interested entities in the community, before finalising designs and presenting them to the authorities for the necessary permitting processes.

During this consultation meeting, Mr Ellul explained that this area of Vjal ir-Rihan currently includes an open space of 2,183 square metres. Through the proposed new green open space, Project Green will increase it threefold to 7,200 square metres. This project will also ensure that the two sides of San Gwann, which are currently separated by Vjal ir-Rihan, one of Malta’s busiest thoroughfares, are reconnected with safer, car-free pedestrian connections. This means that residents will no longer have to travel by car to enjoy a green open space close to their homes, less than a 10-minute walk away.

This open space is also being adapted to the social and cultural requirements of the residents living in San Gwann and the surrounding areas, with several new features such as a sensory garden, an aquatic garden, an amphitheatre, and a sustainable playground.

San Gwann Mayor, Trevor Fenech, stated that the local council has already unanimously approved the need for this project in the past, and is looking forward to working with Project Green in its implementation. This investment will be giving back to residents an open space in the heart of the community instead of a main road filled with cars and pollution. It will be creating a new green lung in the centre of San Gwann, improving quality of life for all residents in this locality.

During the consultation meeting, the residents presented different ideas, as the Project Green team answered their questions on the proposals and the eventual works required to create the new open space.

For more information about Project Green, follow the agency’s Facebook page – https://fb.me/projectgreenmt.

#MaltaDaily

Ford advertise ‘men’s only car’ missing all parts created by women

Mar 9 2023

This might have been the best International Women’s Day celebration and advertisement for 2023.

Ford Motor Company released an advert for a men’s only car on International Women’s Day – the catch being that the vehicle was missing all the innovations made by women for cars.

Narrated by Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston, the tongue-in-cheek advert was for a vehicle missing everything from a GPS system, heaters, brake lights, windshield wipers and turn signals.

At the end of the advertisement, Ford makes it clear how the ad was a gimmick but a celebration of women inventors and that the car was not actually for sale.

Women massively praised the advert, saying that they were worried at first by the stunt. However, after watching it in its entirety, they discovered that the automobile giant was sending a very clear message about women empowerment in all sectors and fields.

#MaltaDaily

McDonald’s are testing out a fully-automated restaurant with ZERO human workers

Mar 9 2023

As ever-evolving technology continues to take over the world as we know it, a new McDonald’s branch in Texas is driving the Golden Arches into the future with the brand’s first ever fully-automated restaurant.

That’s right – a test restaurant near Fort Worth Texas has been set up with touchscreens, conveyor belts and other methods of enhanced technology in an attempt to improve order speed and accuracy.

The decision was met with reactions from both sides of the coin; some praised the tech’s untapped potential while others lamented the fact that minimum wage in Texas hasn’t increased in almost a decade as many struggle to keep up with the cost of living.

Some machines took orders at the front, others served food at the drive-thru, with no humans in sight. The game-changing application of technology in the hospitality sector could change the way we consume fast food as we know it.

@themadivlog How did I end up a butter #fyp ♬ The Office – The Hyphenate

On the other hand, a TikTok creator went online with a number of difficulties she faced when trying to order, namely due to the communication barrier between man and machine, as the McDonald’s technology did not seem to understand what the client was saying. Business Insider stated that such difficulties show that robots won’t take over restaurants any time soon, with every other McDonald’s restaurant in the world relying on its human workers to offer service with a smile.

Would you like to see technology like this in Malta?

#MaltaDaily

Malta has lowest fertility rate in EU at 1.13 live births per woman

Mar 9 2023

According to Eurostat data published on Thursday, Malta has the lowest fertility rate in all of Europe at 1.13 live births per woman.

This is a significant drop from the EU average of 1.53 births per woman. The data tracks births around Europe until 2021, finding how just over 4 million babies were born throughout the year.

Malta’s fertility rate started to drop as of 2012, when it was 1.42 live births per woman. The sharpest decreases were registered between 2017 and 2019.

This is in contrast to the EU’s fertility rate which remained steady over the same period. meanwhile, the average age at which women give birth was found to be climbing to just under 31.

#MaltaDaily