Multimillion-euro shooting range is still lying ‘idle’

A new “state-of-the-art” shooting range in Ta’ Kandja has not been used for months amid operational problems and discord on how the facility is to be managed.
Despite government promises and millions of euros paid for jobs allocated by direct order on the pretext that the facility had to be completed in time for the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup event last June, the project was far from finished and further investment was required to cater for other international shooting disciplines such as rifle and dynamic ranges, sources close to the Education Ministry said.
“So far, the facility has been used for a few days last year for just one event, the World Cup, and has been inoperative ever since,” the sources added.
Notwithstanding the huge amount of money spent, the government had still not found a way to make good use of the ranges, they continued.
Shooters who spoke to this newspaper termed the prevailing situation as “pitiful”, describing it as a monument to the waste of taxpayer money.

“Instead of making the best use of this new range, we have been told to use other facilities because Ta’ Kandja is closed,” one of them remarked.
The shooting range, which...