Caritas to build rehab centre for young drug users in Ta’ Kandja

The Planning Authority has approved a proposal submitted by Caritas to develop a therapeutic care centre for the rehabilitation of under-18 drug users. The application was filed by Caritas director Leonid McKay.

The site is outside the development zone. It is located in Triq l-Imqabba, Ta’ Kandja, limits of Siġġiewi, and consists of an existing rural farmhouse having a frontage on the street, and onto adjoining fields, with the entire site covering a total area of around 9,330 square metres. The fields are enclosed by rubble and ashlar masonry walls.

The proposal entails demolition works on parts of the existing structure, retaining the façade, and the reinstatement of certain elements, the construction of a new building to serve the new use on site, and ancillary facilities consisting of a car park, sports pitch, other outbuildings and landscaping works.

What is being proposed cannot be done on another site, the applicant’s representatives said.

McKay, addressing the board, said that the idea behind the site is to offer a programme for youths under 18 years of age who have drug problems. Right now, he said, the only solution for them is to mix with adults with such a problem, or end up in institutions including prison, thus highlighting the need for such a facility.

He spoke of the importance for these people to detach themselves from the community and receive the needed treatment. This kind of treatment worked abroad, he said. He spoke of the need for youths to be cut off from the community when undergoing such treatment, which results in a higher chance of success.

During the hearing, Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) chairman Victor Axiak said that the ERA had conducted a detailed assessment. The authority concluded that even though the project is on ODZ land, given the nature of the project and the impacts being suitably contained, the go-ahead should be given.

Caritas visited two similar facilities abroad, the board heard, and saw the importance of including sports, pet therapy and mixed-agriculture together with traditional treatment methods.

The case officer’s report read that the applicant “is contending that for the centre to serve the therapeutic needs of adolescent drug users, it is fundamentally essential for the facility to be located away from a high-density area, within a remote environment. This is because such a location would help the residents of the facility to establish a connection with the natural world – essential for relaxation and recovery – and ensure that the residents are located away from the unsafe environments they come from.”

The board approved the application. The land in question belongs to the Lands Authority, but is leased to Caritas.