Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1001069
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 4 JULY 2018 2 NEWS Traffic diversion for closing Church Street, Paceville on Thursday 5 th July and Friday 6 th July 2018 Works in Church Street Paceville are to be carried out between 6:00am and 23:00pm. Traffic will be allowed to pass in the remaining hours. Police Officers and Wardens will assist the traffic Drivers are kindly asked to follow the temporary traffic signs. Shuttle service is being provided to cover all bus stops for routes 14 and 120. Drivers are encouraged to avoid the area in these days For further information you are kindly requested to call on 22981221 We apologise for any inconvenient caused. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 In addition to the work done on the Central Link Project, the spokesperson said the company had been engaged to do several jobs on five other projects. "The company was paid €111,564 for services related to the Central Link Project, in- cluding the cost benefit analy- sis fees to Mlab, as well as for services related to the rede- sign and upgrade of the two main roundabout junctions at Qormi (L-Imghallaq and ex-Löwenbräu areas) and the two main roundabouts at Luqa (St Vincent de Paule and Triq il-Kunsill tal-Ewropa areas), which were rebuilt in 2017 and earlier this year." It is unclear how much the company was paid for the work done on the Central Link Project, and questions regard- ing the basis upon which the jobs were granted by direct or- der remained unanswered. According to the company's website, it was founded in 2016 and mainly focused on transport and infrastructure studies and projects. The website states that the company was involved in the Central Link Project from the start, including preliminary traffic studies, the collection of traffic data, observation studies and the analysis of data. www.maltatoday.com.mt Reasoning behind direct order remains unexplained Environment minister requests ERA investigation into cruise liner emissions MASSIMO COSTA THE Environment and Resources Au- thority (ERA) will be looking into find- ings by a BirdLife Malta study on emis- sions generated by cruise liners at the Valletta Grand Harbour, according to Environment minister Jose Herrera. The findings published yesterday un- derscored the severe effects emissions from cruise liners berthed in Valletta have on air quality in areas both near and far from the port. The environmental NGO carried out an air quality measurement exercise on 23 and 24 June – monitoring the ar- rival and departure of four cruise liners, and several smaller ships – at the Grand Harbour. Collected air samples reveal high con- centrations of ultrafine particles as well as NO2 being emitted by the vessels. Contacted by MaltaToday, Herrera said that he had directed ERA to prepare a report on the "current state of play as regards cruise liners". Herrera explained that there were no EU regulations on shipping as yet, main- ly due to the EU's experience in trying to introduce regulations in the aviation sector, which had resulted in European carriers being placed at a disadvantage. As to whether the government would consider obliging cruise liners to con- nect to the grid, rather than using their engines for electricity, Herrera said he would first be taking stock of the situ- ation. The study found high levels of air pol- lution at the Gardjola Gardens in Sen- glea, opposite to the Valletta Cruise Port, with ultrafine particle levels in- creasing to 110,000 particles per cubic centimetre, and NO2 volumes going up to 135 µg/m3, during the arrival of a cruise liner at 8am, with one other liner already berthed at the port. Another cruise liner leaving Valletta at 6pm emitted at its maximum 74,000 pt/ cm3 of ultrafine particles and 166 µg/m3 of NO2, the study, which was conducted with the support of the German Nature and Biodiversity Union (NABU) and air quality expert Axel Friedrich, found. "This means that in summer, when up to seven cruise liners can be catered for at the port, these ships contribute to a great extent to the already critical levels of air quality in Malta," BirdLife said. These levels look alarmingly high when compared to the 16,000 pt/cm3 level of ultrafine particles measured dur- ing heavy traffic at the Marsa Junction; a highly congested arterial road. While progress has been made in re- ducing emissions from sources like cars and power plants, shipping emissions of nitrogen oxides are not obliged to be fil- tered to the same extent, BirdLife said. Particles carried hundreds of kilometres, harming health "Ship emissions have an effect on hu- man health, diminishing the function of lungs and increasing the risk of car- diovascular disease as well as asthma particularly caused by nitrogen oxides and ultrafine particles," Friedrich high- lighted. BirdLife said this was "particularly striking" for Malta, highlighting that the EU's Environmental Implementation Report on the island showed that health- related external costs from air pollution are more than €182 million per year. Moreover, 44,000 work days are lost every year due to sick leave related to air pollution, it said. "Anything that affects our natural en- vironment affects us as humans too and nothing more directly than the air we breathe. This is why BirdLife Malta em- barked on this project and once more it is basing all its arguments, advice and assistance on proper scientific research," the organisation said. BirdLife called on the government to address air pollution from ships in Malta properly, and to take responsibility for shifting the country to a zero emissions situation in the shipping sector. mcosta@mediatoday.com.mt A BirdLife Malta study has found that cruise liners docking in the Grand Harbour greatly diminish air quality since emissions are filtered less than they are in cars and power plants