Newsbook
Updated 06:53 PM
Tista taqra bil-
Video by Miguela Xuereb
The trees in Attard were chopped down despite residents gathering this morning to stop Infrastructure Malta (IM) workers from chopping down two large trees in a residential area.
The trees, located in
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Alfred Baldacchino
In a Facebook post, Moviment Graffitti said residents had been promised that the ficus trees, which are at least 70 years old, would not be uprooted by transport minister Ian Borg during the works being carried out in
Triq in-Nutar Żarb. Borg later made a U-turn, citing road safety reasons.
While underlining the trees’ natural value, Moviment Graffitti said the two ficus trees have been protecting residences from the heat, sunlight and pollution for over 70 years.
Infrastructure Malta has gone ahead with the uprooting of old trees in Triq in-Nutar Żarb, Attard, despite protests by residents and environmentalists who claimed they have 30 days to contest the permit.
Workers turned up at the site early in the morning and started preparing to pull down the 70-year-old ficus trees, removing branches and loading them onto a truck.
One of the trees just as it was uprooted.
The uprooting of trees underway. Photo taken from resident Alfred Baldacchino s window on Thursday afternoon.
But nearby residents and members of environment and civil society groups such as Graffitti protested and demanded a copy of the permit. The permit, by the Environment Authority, was issued two days ago.
Two weeks have passed since this newspaper exposed Infrastructure Malta and their expropriations sham.
Having accustomed us to interminably long press releases
Four bids have been received in answer to the request for proposals – three are for bored tunnels and the other is for an immersed structure.
Azzopardi said this alternative, submitted by the only Maltese consortium, had not been rejected because IM had been advised that restricting the proposals to bored tunnels might give rise to appeals that would delay the tendering process.
He explained that IM’s conceptual design was for a 14-kilometre horseshoe-shaped tunnel running underground and under the seabed between l-Imbordin, in St Paul’s Bay, and a road near Kenuna Tower, in Nadur.
But this was not the final design or technology – whether bored or immersed. That would only be determined once bidders who satisfied the criteria passed the first phase of the evaluation process and moved to the second phase.
14km horseshoe-shaped tunnel to connect Malta and Gozo proposed
Photo: Miguela Xuereb
The proposed horseshoe-shaped 14km tunnel to connect Malta and Gozo is not a final design. The proposed tunnel will connect Manikata close to the St. Paul’s Bay bypass and a road in the vicinity of Kenuna Tower in Gozo.
In a Gozo Affairs Committee meeting, Infrastructure Malta CEO Ing. Fredrick Azzopardi explained that after a number of studies and Environmental impact assessments these roads were chosen due to their capacity of accommodating large volumes of traffic. He also explained that the design allows for more accessibility.
The proposed tunnel will also accommodate enough space for emergency vehicles to pass through, with the tunnel being secure as the design allows any fires and smoke that break out to be dealt with. A 1.5 metre separation lane between the two-lane tunnel allows for easier access, Azzopardi said. The addition of several roundabouts allow vehicles to be able to turn ba