Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1175000
NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 9 OCTOBER 2019 2 JAMES DEBONO INFRASTRUCTURE Malta's extensive road and tunnel plans for the Paceville and Pembroke towns have been published on the Planning Au- thority website, with the pub- lic having until 8 November to present objections and recom- mendations. Infrastructure Malta had an- nounced the project on its so- cial media page in May but the actual plans were kept under wraps, alongside hundreds of other planning applications deemed to be "incomplete" by the Planning Authority. The Ombudsman had insisted that the public should be informed about the plans from the ini- tial stages. The plans were published a few days after the Planning Ombudsman called for their immediate publication fol- lowing a complaint made by former independent candidate Arnold Cassola. The project proposes the up- grading of the Pembroke-St Julian's connection through the widening of Triq Sant' An- drija and Triq Anzio, a 500m tunnel connecting Regional Road and Triq Santu Wistin and Triq Walter Ganado, a tunnel connection between Triq il-Knisja and Triq San Gorg in Paceville, a 1.5 km tunnel connection between Triq Xatt ta' San Gorg and the Coast Road, and new round- abouts at Spinola, Triq Elia Zammit, Triq Sant' Andrija and Triq is-Sajjieda. The plans also envisage a tunnel and a pedestrian link crossing the Harq Hammiem valley. In Paceville the pro- posed tunnels will converge under the protected Spinola gardens. The plans have already been reviewed by the Superintend- ence for Cultural Heritage and the Environment and Resourc- es Authority, both of which have called for more details on aspects of the project. In its preliminary assessment the Superintendence for Cul- tural Heritage has noted that the project will have a "po- tential" impact on a number of heritage sites including the gardens around the Spinola Palace, the Harq Hammien underground cave, the sched- uled rifle ranges and military parade ground ranges at Pem- broke, and the monuments lo- cated in the Spinola junction. The Superintendence has noted that the proposed draw- ings "clearly indicate direct impact" on the protected Spi- nola gardens and has called for a clear method statement, detailing the proposed meth- odology for the excavation of the tunnel and the impact this will have on the garden. With regards to works pro- posed in the Spinola junction, the SCH is insisting that the Statue of Christ, the Horse Drinking Trough and the arch- es along the sea front "are not dismantled or relocated and any proposed works should include clear methodology en- suring their safeguard". The SCH has also called for more information with regards the proposed tunnel crossing Wied Harq Hammiem valley and has called for visual ren- derings of the proposed pe- destrian link. It is also calling for appropriate methodology to ensure that the Harq Ham- miem cave is not damaged. The Superintendence fur- ther noted that a project of such scope and extent should require an Environmental Im- pact Assessment which has to include an assessment of the cultural heritage features within the scope of the pro- ject, including archaeological features and the built herit- age. On its part the Environment and Resources Authority has called for the submission of a Project Development State- ment (the first stage of the EIA process). Moreover the project will have to be screened for its impact on the Pembroke Nat- ura 2000 site under which one of the tunnels will pass. ERA also asked the applicant to provide a plan identifying all trees present on site and any interventions proposed on them. According to Infrastructure Malta the project is aimed to reduce traffic in several resi- dential roads in Pembroke, Swieqi and St Julian's "whilst developing the necessary in- frastructure to meet the area's future transportation require- ments". The Pembroke tunnel was first proposed in the applica- tion for the DB development which along other develop- ments in the area is expected to generate 7,000 new car trips. Planning Authority publishes Paceville roads and tunnel project plans CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The ELC is chaired by Peter Calamat- ta, of Calamatta Landscapes, and in- cludes the Polidano Group and Green Supplier. ELC has already informed local coun- cils of its plans not to renew its con- tracts for landscaping, which means councils now must issue a call for ten- ders for landscaping their gardens and public spaces. An ELC representative had cited business reasons for discon- tinuing the contracts. The employees have now been in- formed that various attempts by the company to secure a renewal of the contract failed and had left them no choice but to issue "collective redun- dancies" for all employees on its books. In a statement independent candidate Arnold Cassola, who published the let- ter sent to employees, described the lay-offs as a sad and terrible day for em- ployees. "Unlike for those greedy people [whose greed] was given free rein these last years, for these employees and fam- ilies, it is certainly not the best of times." In August the consortium informed 38 local councils that it did not intend renewing their landscaping contracts. The Environment Ministry reacted by announcing that it would be following recommendations made by the Auditor General in 2007, and would be "issuing a public tender in the coming months". In its report the NAO had conceded that the ELC was instrumental in bring- ing about positive change, but ques- tions arose on how the original 2002 agreement – and the two subsequent contract extensions – were not awarded through competitive tendering. According to the report the govern- ment could have pulled out of its pub- lic-private partnership with the ELC as a result of several contractual breaches, but a weak and understaffed monitor- ing unit resulted in "tacit consent". The PPP between the government and the consortium responsible from land- scaping Malta's roundabouts and pub- lic gardens has been in place since 2003, despite the negotiated contractual rates that the NAO described as "not favour- able to government". The government's expenditure since the initiation of this partnership in 2002 amounted to over €100 million. A representative random sample comprising 76 out of a population of 1,682 landscaped sites across Malta and Gozo showed that 62 (82%) were well maintained. The main problems with the remaining sites related to littering and over-grown weeds. This audit also noticed that the quality related to the maintenance of landscaped sites im- proved considerably over the past two years. Landscaping employees to lose job after company's contract with the government expires Drawings show plans for the Pembroke tunnel (top) and (above) the Regional Road tunnel