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JAMES DEBONO THE Planning Authority's case officer's go-ahead for DB's mas- sive City Centre project in Pem- broke is based on the assumption that Infrastructure Malta will ex- cavate a 1.4km tunnel that must pass beneath a protected Natura 2000 site. The controversial opinion by the planning directorate's case officer to give the maligned City Centre the green light, is based on the eventual approval of the tunnel, to be built by the govern- ment infrastructure agency. The application, which has been "suspended" for more than a year, lacking any sort of en- vironmental and social impact assessments, foresees both a tun- nel for the Regional Road as well as a tunnel link to Pembroke as part of TEN-T plans on national road-building. The tunnel application was met with objections by both environ- mental NGOs and Pembroke res- idents, particularly those living along Triq il-Mediterran which borders the proposed tunnel and whose lives will be disrupted by the required excavation works. The works for the tunnel link- ing the DB project to St Andrew's Street, will be financed entirely by the government. Curiously, Transport Malta's comments on the current appli- cation for the DB project, which were identical to the feedback sent in August 2018, were sent five days after the expiry of the consultation period, and there- fore deemed ineligible by the PA. The case officer's report still refers to the TM comments pre- viously sent back in 2018 (and re- iterated in the 2021 submission) in which the regulator – falling under the same ministry as Infra- structure Malta – points out that the St Andrew's junction will be- come a major traffic bottleneck in 2025 without major road im- provements. In this respect, TM's clearance was conditional on a letter of commitment from the govern- ment for the required infrastruc- ture measures within an appro- priate time-frame, to ensure that site-generated traffic from the DB project, does not create con- ditions in which road capacity is exceeded. The case officer also said in his reports that in the meantime, a new application which includes "the indicative tunnel alignment" and junction shown in the DB project's drawings, has been pre- sented. According to the Transport Impact Assessment presented by the City Centre developers, the project as proposed now will generate 934 car trips during af- ternoons and 541 car trips during morning hours, which is based on a 15% reduction after the pro- ject was downscaled. The DB Group's consultants argued that the tunnel will not be exclusively serving the project but also other developments in the area. The Environment and Re- sources Authority also issued its go-ahead for the project, based on the assumption that the new tunnel will be dug prior to an as- sessment of the environmental impacts of the tunnel applica- tion. The report by ERA simply recommended that excavation works for the proposed tunnel are subject to a number of mit- igation measures including con- tinuous stone wetting during the drilling process to reduce the quantities of particulate matter that will be generated. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt 8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 MAY 2021 NEWS POSTS FOR LAWYER WITH THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL The Office of the Attorney General Agency is inviting applications for Lawyers to carry out prosecution and related duties. The selected candidates will be employed on a full-time indefinite term basis, subject to a probation period, and will be required to work for a minimum of forty hours per week. Applicants must be in possession of a warrant to practice the profession of Advocate and, must also have at least one year experience in the practice of the profession covered by a warrant. Applications, including a detailed CV, should be addressed to: The Administration Jobsplus Vacancy Nos 369626, Permit Nos. 273/2021 Office of the Attorney General, No. 53, Admiralty House, South Street, Valletta VLT 1101 or emailed to ag@attorneygeneral.mt and should be submitted by not later than Friday 11th June 2021 at 13:00 hrs. POSTIJIET TA' AVUKAT FL-UFFIĊĊJU TAL-AVUKAT ĠENERALI Leap in the dark? DB go-ahead depends on tunnel beneath Natura 2000 site Approval for downscaled City Centre project in Pembroke based on assumption that 1.4km tunnel will be dug beneath Natura 2000 site, the environmental impacts of which are yet to be assessed Left: the plan for the government-financed subterranean tunnel for vehicular traffic from the St Andrew's junction, to the DB group's project. Below: the scale of the Natura 2000 site stretches the entire Pembroke garigue Site of the DB City Centre project in Pembroke The project will generate 934 car trips during afternoons and 541 car trips during morning hours, which is based on a 15% reduction after the project was downscaled