St Aloysius College students and teachers, together with representatives of the Vassallo Group, recently planted several indigenous trees at Majjistral Park.
The two entities committed themselves to this green initiative from the outset of the new St Aloysius sports complex project after some ficus trees were shifted to make way for new facilities. The project is to be completed by year end.
Different types of trees were planted, namely 20 olive trees, 25 tamarisk, 10 gum sandarac (tal-għargħar), five carob trees, five oak trees, 10 almond trees, five Judas trees, three Tree Medick (nefel), two Lentisk trees (deru), five common myrtle (riħan), two stinking bean trefoil (fula tal-klieb), two wall rue (fejġel), six Mediterranean buckthorn (alaternu), 10 African Wolbane (tal-ħarir), and five wild sage plants (salvja selvaġġ).
St Aloysius College rector Fr Jimmy Bartolo, SJ, Vassallo Group CEO Pio Vassallo and Majjistral Park site manager Darren Saliba delivered short speeches at the ceremony.
Fr Bartolo spoke about the various environmental initiatives the college takes during the year, particularly through its involvement in EkoSkola.
“On occasions like this one, we are reminded of our commitment to take good care of our ‘common house’. The Church joins millions of people around the world who wish to take care of our natural environment,” Fr Bartolo said.
He also explained that since the year 2000, the school has grown and planted over 20,000 trees in various localities in Malta. He thanked David Azzopardi who worked on keeping this tree nursery alive and active throughout all these years.
“This is yet another step which confirms the Jesuit commitment to safeguard the environment,” he said.
He reminded those present that the Jesuits, in collaboration with friends and collaborators, managed to halt the building of a shooting range next to Mount St Joseph retreat house in Mosta.
“We have also, together with the Front Kontra l-Golf Course, successfully halted the development of a golf course in Rabat, which threatened the livelihood of over 90 farmers in the area,” he said.
Vassallo announced that the Mediterranean College of Sport (MCS) to be set up within the St Aloysius College will not only include new trees and shrubs to be planted in different parts of the complex, but will also benefit from other environmental measures that will help generate clean energy and make use of rainwater among other measures.
Established in 2008, the Majjistral Park extends along the coast from Ir-Ramla tal-Mixquqa (Golden Bay) to Il-Prajjet (Anchor Bay) l/o Mellieħa. The park is managed by a federation of non-governmental organisations carrying out the regeneration of the habitat to revive areas abandoned over the years. To date, the federation has planted thousands of trees in different zones of the park and has removed tons of illegally dumped waste.
During the ceremony, trees were planted by St Aloysius primary school students, as well as secondary school students who participate in the EkoSkola initiative, teachers, as well as the Vassallo Group team involved in the MCS project.
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