It is the government’s vision to continuously upgrade the Public Abattoir to become a trendsetter in the local meat industry and thereby becoming a showcase for quality in Maltese products. 

In order to achieve this vision, the Government is investing in the facility’s premises, equipment as well as human resources (through training, proper procedures, monitoring and enforcement) and quality control. Through such investment, the facility is being transformed into a showcase where third parties can, through site and/or study visits, gain knowledge about the meat-processing industry, hygiene standards, etc. Thereby, the government seeks to enhance the value added of Maltese meat products giving the consumers the opportunity of experiencing high quality standards, increasing the consumption of local meats as compared to the imported product.
Over the past years, substantial investment in the facility’s infrastructure has already been made, whilst various works are still ongoing in order to transform the Public Abattoir in line with the Government’s vision.

New changing facilities for the facility’s staff have been built equipped with the latest equipment to ensure separation between different sections of the abattoir’s staff and butchers as well as between butchers working in different sections of the abattoir to thereby eliminate any possibility of cross-contamination.
A new silt-trap was built to separate and filter the drainage, particularly coming out from the slaughter lines, before going out to the main sewage system.
Work was also undertaken on the overhaul of the lairages – the areas where animals brought to the abattoir are received and inspected for animal welfare issues and hygiene – to ensure adequate and welcoming facilities, finished to the highest hygiene standards, for both the animals to be slaughtered and the livestock-breeders who bring them over to the abattoir. Substantial investment was made on the renovation of the operating areas with an overhaul of the slaughterlines, as well as meat processing equipment. New equipment has been purchased to facilitate the re-launching on the local market of traditional products which risked being lost, including the traditional kirxa (tripe) as well as mazzit (made from swine or bovine blood) in a modern, hygienic manner. 

The built fabric has been restored, including the unique Victorian Abattoir Gate, and the historic 1930s reinforced concrete Water Tower which was restored with an innovative concrete which was trialled on the project as part of the EU funded Horizon 2020 project ReSHEALience. Both the gate, the water tower and the space in between have been listed as Grade 1 National Monument; the highest protection status by the Planning Authority of Malta.

The Public Abattoir is presently carrying out major investments to further up the ante in terms of quality and efficiency. These include investments to increase energy efficiency and reduction of the environmental footprint, including a shift from thin fuel oil to LPG, the installation of a 250kWp photovoltaic plant, the trialling as a first in the EU of a high output UVC sterilisers for the trialling of knives, and the installation of a new energy and emissions monitoring system.