Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1524527
3 gozotoday | FRIDAY • 26 JULY 2024 NEWS GozoToday is a weekly newspaper focused primarily on Gozo. It hopes to serve as a source of information on business, culture, entertainment and of course current affairs. Gozo has a special charm about it but it is also a bustling Island with an identity of its own. We will strive to bring you the news over the next three months. At this stage we are planning to take advantage of the influx of local and foreign visitors to this marvellous Mediterranean Island. But we could be tempted to continue with this newspaper project beyond the Summer months. GozoToday will be published every Friday and is available to numerous outlets in Gozo and on the ferries that carry so many visitors to Gozo from Malta and beyond. GozoToday MediaToday Co. Ltd Vjal ir-Rihan San Gwann SGN 9016 EDITOR: PAUL COCKS Tel: (356) 21 382741-3, 21 382745-6 Website: www.maltatoday.com.mt E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt GozoToday is published by MediaToday in collaboration with the Ministry for Gozo and Planning MINISTERU GĦAL GĦAWDEX U LIPPJANAR NGO's call for more clarity on proposed Marsalforn road NGOS, Din l-Art Ħelwa (DLĦ), Rota, and the Gozo Cycling Club, have blasted government's lack of transparency on the de- tails of the project, as they stated Gozo minister Clint Camilleri is withholding the project plans. The project had drawn crit- icism from a number of oth- er NGOs in the past, as they warned the road widening will lead to the uprooting of over 230 trees and destroy agricultural land and natural habitats. In a statement on Wednesday, DLĦ said that on April 11, its representatives met with Clint Camilleri to discuss the contro- versial road widening project. This meeting followed an appeal from DLĦ urging the Camilleri to reconsider the project, which would result in uprooting over 200 trees in the serene valley be- tween Victoria and Marsalforn, potentially devastating the deli- cate ecosystem. They noted that Camilleri, in an interview, stated that the primary purpose of the project was to introduce a cycling lane. However, cycling NGOs Rota and the Gozo Cycling Club were not consulted before the plans were drawn up. Rota has since condemned the project as an "atrocity," warn- ing that the road straightening would encourage higher speeds for motorised vehicles, rather than serve the needs of active mobility solutions. During the April meeting, Camilleri promised to provide both existing and proposed drawings of the project for re- view by DLĦ, Rota, and the Gozo Cycling Club. However, despite repeated reminders, the NGOs have not received these drawings more than three months later. DLĦ, Rota, and the Gozo Cy- cling Club have criticised this lack of transparency, arguing that the failure to share the plans hinders their ability to adequately assess the project's impact. They assert that while the in- troduction of cycling lanes is generally welcomed, it should not justify a road-widening pro- ject that threatens a quiet valley and involves the indiscriminate uprooting of trees. Local plans The project was announced in 2021 but the new road was already foreseen in the 2006 local plan. An ERA screening report showed the road being widened across a number of valleys supporting watercourses and harbouring a number of Aleppo pine trees. The project was justified by "occasional traffic congestion" at the arm of the roundabout junc- tion connecting Triq il-Kapuc- cini, with Triq ir-Repubblika in Victoria. The narrow carriageway at the roundabout arm at Triq il-Kap- uccini also needs an upgrade as it does not conform to the require- ments of the road standards, leading to additional bottlenecks. Back in 2021, ERA said the pro- ject was modified to reduce its environmental impact, such as with the reduction of the bi-di- rectional bicycle lane from 3m to 2.5m throughout, to limit the take-up of undeveloped land. Other improvements included the reduction of over-formalised splays, field ramps constructed in beaten earth and the width of pavements, bicycle lanes, bus lay-bys kept to a reasonable min- imum, and soft landscaping in- troduced in the Kappucini area. NGOs warn the road widening will lead to the uprooting of over 230 trees and destroy agricultural land and natural habitats