The restoration of Ir-Razzett Tal-Qasam is a community effort that is being lead by the various
KRM members. Regular contributors to sustain our activities are Mario Cardona and Mark who
take care of the animals, Veronica Farrugia and siblings Sara, Rebecca and Martina who
operate our school and summer school programmes and children events, Joe Galea who gives
a helping hand in restoration efforts and contributes his property to the co-op’s operations, and
Nicholas Zahra who focuses is the restoration effort.
We have come a very long way since the early days and our photos are testament to that, but
we got this far because we found support and assistance along the way from key individuals
and companies who also contributed support, expertise, time and labour, and even at times
machinery. The following tributes all deserve our appreciation.

George Pullicino

When considering that KRM and the restoration of Ir-Razzett Tal-Qasam were born out of crisis
which was the threat of a golf course swallowing up not just Tal-Qasam, but the entire Majjistral
Park, the final outcome was a happy one. The period was during the late noughties yet the
outcome was the creation of KRM and the assignment of Tal-Qasam by means of a 5 year
management agreement which at the time was the only legal means to assign government land
without requiring parliamentary approval. This type of agreement proved ineffective in the long
run yet it was the seed from which all this started and we are grateful! Thank you George
Pullicino!

Author: Nicholas Zahra

Aaron Farrugia

When Aaron Farrugia became Minister for the Environment, he continued from where his
predecessor Jose Herrera left off. It was his direct intervention which lead to the Guardianship
Agreement being signed between the Malta Government and our foundation: Fondazzjoni Rurali
Manikata. As is always the case, legal formalities are much harder to achieve than the actual
project itself, especially obtaining planning permission and appropriate title. Once again, the
support of key individuals is crucial to obtaining results. Thank you Aaron Farrugia!

Author: Nicholas Zahra

Deborah Schembri

During Ms Schembri’s appointment as Parliamentary Secretary for Planning and Simplification
of bureaucracy, Ms Schembri took a direct interest in our cause and was instrumental to get our
planning permission over the finish line. At the time, and unlike today, as KRM, our track record
on restoration of property was zero so convincing the authorities that we would be true to our
word and deliver what we promised was always an uphill battle. In this Ms Schembri believed in
us and was instrumental in us achieve another milestone and obtaining planning permission.
Thank you Deborah Schembri!

Author: Nicholas Zahra

Jose’ Herrera

During his tenor as Minister for the Environment, Jose Herrera took a personal interest in our
project and worked hard on legislation for the assignment of public land to NGO’s under
Guardianship. These initiatives always significant amounts of time, requiring legislation to first
be drafted, then presented to Parliament, not once but twice, before finally becoming law.
Sometimes we remember the magnitude of the obstacles we had to overcome to get this far
and wonder to ourselves how we made it! Thank you Jose’ Herrera!

Author: Nicholas Zahra

Samuel Formosa – our architect

Samuel has lead the planning side of the restoration project since its inception. The early days
were not easy and the Planning Authority required a lot of convincing before they finally went
ahead and issued the perit. In fact, that took a full six years of convincing. But Samuel has
always believed in our ability to deliver and has provided us his time and expertise and stands
by our side throughout our incredible journey. Thank you Perit!

Author: Nicholas Zahra

Scroll to load more