Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1539671
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 SEPTEMBER 2025 NEWS panel demands compensation lost to Smart City road project Government is presenting the new road as a traffic relief measure, designed to redirect cars away from residential zones in Kalkara, Birgu, and Żabbar. The connection will provide direct access to Smart City. Among the projects planned at Smart City are a primary and secondary school, a pri- vate hospital, the Institute of Tourism Studies, and the American University of Mal- ta campus. The latter was re- located from Żonqor Point in Marsaskala as part of an agreement reached between government and AUM. The land transfer was approved by parliament in 2022. The AUM land transfer agreement also obliged gov- ernment to build the new road connection linking Bieb is-Sul- tan in Żabbar to the Capuchin Convent in Kalkara, providing a direct link to Smart City. Smaller footprint than 2007 proposal While the present road pro- posal has sparked criticism, the project represents a scaled- down version of earlier road plans. Back in 2007, author- ities had floated a 643-metre road that would have carved through the Tal-Fata agri- cultural area, requiring the take-up of some 14,500sq.m of farmland—considerably more than the land earmarked to- day.