The Wied Fulija rubbish dump in the outskirts of Żurrieq, which has been disused for several years, is set to be turned into a national park.

The tons of glass and construction waste in the valley will be replaced by around 45,000 plants, with most of the plants being ones indigenous to Malta. The valley is huge in size, and will become one of the largest parks on the island.

The announcement of the project comes at a time when the government is enduring harsh criticism for numerous road-widening projects that will result in the removal of plenty of trees. Such projects include the Central Link Project and the Santa Luċija project.

The concerns surrounding these projects resulted in a well-attended protest in Attard, with several activists trying themselves to the trees that are set to be removed to make way for the wider roads for the Central Link Project.

According to several sources, the Wied Fulija project will result in the planting of “hundreds” of trees, many of which being more three metres tall.

However, the project will take a long time to complete, with many expecting it to be finalised four years from now.

The valley was first used as a landfill back in the 1970s, yet waste has been illegally dumped there for several years, with it not being used as a landfill since the late 1990s.

The dump has around two million tons of waste, with a large amount of it being glass that has been sitting there for numerous years.