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4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 SEPTEMBER 2023 NEWS JobsPlus Permit Number: 617/2023 The Authority for integrity in Maltese Sports is looking for an Intelligence Officer. The applicant is expected to be analytical, curious and shall have a general interest in sports. The role includes data analysis, sport related investigations and promotion of the ideal of Sport Integrity and Clean Sports. The candidate shall be in possession of an undergraduate degree (at MQF Level 6) ideally in Criminology, Finance, IT, Management or a related subject. The ideal candidate shall be IT knowledgeable, especially s/he shall know how to navigate on various IT applications and social media and shall be prepared to work on weekends when this is required. Interested applicants are invited to send their application via email. The application shall include a covering letter, a CV and a recent police conduct. Applications will be accepted until the 15 th of September 2023 at noon. Applications including the above-mentioned documents are to be sent to the following address: ryan.c.borg@aims.org.mt CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Micallef attributed the changes to design and safety issues high- lighted by the German experts Tilke GmbH & Co. KG, who were hired by the association to design the track. "Without this additional land we would have been at a stand- still," Micallef acknowledged while thanking the government for resolving the issue by allo- cating more public land for this purpose. He said the additional land area consists of already disturbed land currently used to park trailers in the vicinity of the Customs De- partment bonded stores. Micallef explained the prob- lems arose when plotting the ex- act layout of the track, particular- ly with regards to safety distances from spectators and roads. As proposed in the masterplan, the track included a 2,000m race- track with six right and six left- hand turns and over 4,800sq.m of paddock, grandstands, and access roads. "We have hired the top global designers in the field, and we are heeding their advice all the way," Micallef said when asked about the delays in the project. Motorsport enthusiasts have long clamoured for a circuit racetrack and proposals to this effect also featured in the elec- toral manifestos of the two major political parties. The drawing up of new plans to incorporate the expansion of the racetrack coincides with the association's recent planning ap- plication to upgrade the existing drag racing track. This application for what is popularly known as the kwart ta' mil (literaly, a quarter of a mile), is separate from the racetrack despite being located in the same area. The drag racing application is to upgrade the track and "achieve international safety standards". The application which covers a site area of 104,855sq.m of land (PA 1721/23) foresees the dem- olition and reconstruction of the spectator stands with underly- ing facilities including changing rooms, stores, sanitary facilities and a retail shop. The project is also set to include a four storey block that will house stores, administration offices, club rooms, a multipurpose hall and two catering establishments. The application also foresees the demolition and reconstruction of the existing control tower. The masterplan published in 2022 was largely limited to the proposal to develop a complete- ly new motor racing track in Ħal Far while referring to the existing karting track and the drag racing facility, as the other two oth- er components of the "nation- al multi-purpose motorsports hub". Asked why the three compo- nents of the motorsport hub have not been included in one single application to ensure a ho- listic assessment of its impacts, Micallef replied that the master- plan which is being updated al- ready refers to the three different components. Moreover, the masterplan must be followed up with full planning applications for each component of the project. He also pointed out that each facility will cater for a different sports discipline. When asked for a timeframe for the project, he indicated that the new masterplan will be pub- lished before the end of the year while the upgrading of the exist- ing drag racing track could take place in 2024. "If you ask me, I would have preferred to have started the pro- ject last year but a project of this scale, covering over 200,000sq.m of land, and which is one of the largest ever in Malta, takes time and we prefer doing things prop- erly," Micaellef said. Asked about the noise impact of the project, which is the main concern raised by objectors, Mi- callef replied that one of the ad- vantages of the Ħal Far location is that it is neither a green area nor a residential area. Moreover, the site is already used by enthusiasts frequent- ing the drag racing track and the karting track, he added. He claims that the existing drag racing facility which has been in operation for decades is even noisier than the proposed circuit track. ERA gives go ahead to drag rac- ing upgrade; Birdlife concerned The Environment and Resourc- es Authority has already issued its go-ahead for the upgrading of the drag racing track. Unlike its call for further stud- ies to assess the new racing track's impact on neighbouring Natura 2000 sites and protected bird colonies, ERA deemed the drag racing upgrade proposal of "no environmental concern". The Natura 2000 sites are lo- cated 600m from the proposed racing track and even closer to the existing drag racing track while the Tal-Papa residential community is located 1,500m away. But environmentalists who talked to MaltaToday have flagged the risk of a piecemeal approach to the area. They would prefer to have the different com- ponents of the project assessed in one single application with impacts assessed holistically. Birdlife Marine Data and Policy Officer Polina Venka expressed concern on the practice of splitting "one large project into smaller ones" possibly to avoid a holistic environment impact as- sessment, a practice which is be- coming more frequent according to the organisation. She also warned that during the construction phase, the pro- ject will be a source of additional light, noise and dust pollution. This, she said, could have a neg- ative impact on the Scopoli's and Yelkouan shearwaters which in- habit the protected cliffs, espe- cially if construction works co- incide with the breeding season. Birdlife is also concerned by the noise, light pollution and traf- fic impact, especially during big events. Noise emissions cause for con- cern According to a Project Devel- opment Statement authored by ADI consultants on behalf of the Malta Motorsports Federation, the main impact from the oper- ation of the racetrack is expect- ed to be "noise emissions from the racing cars, especially from non-electric vehicles and, in par- ticular, the combustion engines". The PDS also calls for the in- stallation of noise barriers in strategic locations to minimize noise impacts, "together with the strict monitoring of noise emis- sions from individual vehicles, in line with the racetrack's noise limit policies." The document warns that the proximity of the residential Ħal Far tent village which abuts the proposed site on the northwest, and the Ħal Far Day Centre, which abuts the site on the east, could be "a cause for concern" due to noise pollution. The possible relocation of the refugee centres was proposed in a set of mitigation proposals. ERA had exempted the project from the need of submitting a full environment impact assess- ment but has requested an Ap- propriate Assessment to assess the impact on the neighbouring Natura 2000 sites. The development of a motor- sport track is an electoral com- mitment of the present govern- ment and is also supported by the Opposition. ADPD which had objected to the project because of its noise impact, has raised concern on the loss of brownfield land which may be required for future industrial expansion. Government will be allocating an additional 20,000sq.m of land for a racetrack in Hal Far