Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1029140
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 19 SEPTEMBER 2018 4 NEWS DAVID HUDSON THREE MEPs visited rescue NGOs blocked in Malta and asked the Prime Minister to lift restrictions on their operations MEPs of the European Parlia- ment's Civil Liberties Commit- tee have called on the Prime Minister to lift restrictions on search and rescue ships and aircraft used by migrant rescue NGOs Lifeline and Seawatch. The MEPs met on Monday evening with the crews of Mis- sion Lifeline and Seawatch in Malta and yesterday presented a letter to Prime Minister Jo- seph Muscat. The delegation was composed of Martina Anderson, Péter Niedermüller and Jean Lam- bert. The MEPs said at a press conference yesterday that they asked Muscat to intervene and allow the NGOs to carry out their lifesaving missions as hundreds keep drowning in the Mediterranean Sea. "There are no illegalities tak- ing place here," Anderson said. "These NGOs sought clearance from the Minister for Trans- port but clearance has not yet been given." Since Mission Lifeline captain Claus Peter Reisch is undergo- ing a trial in relation to vessel licensing irregularities, Ander- son said that she has concerns with regards to the "criminali- sation of NGOs". Despite posi- tive inspection and the fact that no irregularities were found, both Lifeline and Seawatch ves- sels remain detained in port. On 5 July the European Par- liament voted on a resolution to prevent humanitarian assis- tance from being criminalised. "This is a humanitarian issue," Niedermüller said, "not a legal issue." Anderson argued that since Seawatch were not even un- dergoing a legal trial, nothing should be stopping them from carrying out their rescue mis- sions. "We have taken this mat- ter very seriously," she said. "We will go back to the Euro- pean Parliament and will make sure this issue is raised there. We are from three separate groups with our own personal views but we are in agreement on this." Anderson went on to say that the three of them yesterday were representing hundreds of MEPs who share the same hu- manitarian view on the issue. Jean Lambert said that her concern was mostly about the fact that if NGOs are prevented from helping migrants in the Mediterranean, men, women and children will keep drown- ing at sea. "Are we saying that saving them is nobody's job? Are we to let them drown?" Niedermüller said NGOs formed an important part of democratic European nations and insisted it was important to support them. He said that the three representatives were not against the politics of the Maltese government. "We are simply asking the Prime Minis- ter to help." MEPs urge Joseph Muscat to allow migrant rescue vessels to leave port JAMES DEBONO YESTERDAY the Planning Authority approved road-widening works along Vjal Sta Lucija and an underpass at the Sta Lucija/Tarxien roundabout despite concern raised by the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage on the thorough- ness of archaeological studies commis- sioned by Transport Malta. On 15 June the Superintendence had drawn attention to the archaeological sensitivity of the area located between the Tarxien Temples and Sta Lucija Hypogeum, recommending that an ar- chaeological evaluation should be car- ried out and the direction of the Super- intendence. When the Planning Directorate subse- quently consulted the Superintendence again on 10 July 2018, it pointed out that no archaeological evaluation had been carried out or even been initiated. The need for this evaluation was again noted by the Superintendence on 25 July. The Superintendence was later informed of Transport Malta's intention to carry out a geo-radar survey over part of the route of proposed works. On 10 August Frederick Azzopardi in- formed the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage that a geo-radar survey had been carried out by a company called Terracore. Geo-radar studies are used to investigate voids in the ground and are useful in identifying underground archaeological remains like tombs or hypogeums. The studies, which have not been published, indicated no such voids. Three days later the Superintendence expressed concern that the exploration had proceeded without any direction from the Superintendence and was car- ried out in the absence of information from the Superintendence about the nearest archaeological features. In its latest submission the Superin- tendence insisted that had it been in- volved in the studies it would have also directed that the geo-radar should be calibrated with known archaeological features, so as to facilitate the identi- fication of such features as might be discovered". Neither was the Superin- tendence given a copy of the georadar survey. Consequently, the Superintendence concluded is was not sufficiently in- formed to make recommendations for the redesign of the project as would be the usual procedure to ensure the safe- guard of archaeological remains. Furthermore, the Superintendence expressed its concern that one of the farm buildings proposed for demolition in the vicinity of the roundabout, may have cultural heritage value, and there- fore required further assessment. Despite its concerns the Superintend- ence did not formally object to the pro- ject noting the importance and urgency of this project. The project will result in the perma- nent loss of 6,989sq.m of agricultural land, in the area west of Vjal Sta Lucija. The project will involve the uproot- ing of 547 trees, including 39 protected olive trees and 125 trees from within a tree protection area near the cemetery. 262 trees including the 39 olive trees will be transplanted elsewhere while 285 trees will be lost. The number of trees which will be lost, could be great- er due to the difficulty to successfully transplant the more mature trees. Outraged Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar react Flimkien ghal Ambjent ahjar (FAA) described the project approval as a "short-sighted decision" by the Plan- ning Authority and Transport Malta. The organisation said that the Sta Lu- cija tunnels will result in the destruc- tion of a 1km-stretch of mature trees and the loss of agricultural land. FAA said that this is exacerbated by the fact that though the traffic carriage- ways will be widened for private tran- sit, the authorities left no room for ad- equate bicycle lanes and pedestrianised paths in their plan. The environmental NGO is concerned that the authorities are not showing due diligence to the policies and plans that support sustainable development, despite the fact that these are the same authorities that came up with the sus- tainable policies themselves. Last August the Environment and Re- sources Authority (ERA) had claimed that the environmental impacts of the Sta Lucija development would likely be insignificant and that an Environmen- tal Impact Assessment is not required. FAA said that they are completely ap- palled and staggered that the authority responsible for environmental protec- tion deems such an unsustainable ap- plication to have little impact and that the institutions keep encouraging fur- ther car use. Vjal Sta Lucija widening: Archaeological studies not directed by Superintendence