Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1541943
GOZO residents will be among the first to see a new educational film on road safe- ty, launched this week as part of the "Aħsibha Darbtejn!" campaign. The film, which presents a realistic reconstruc- tion of a traffic accident, will tour towns and villages across Malta and Gozo in a specially designed mobile cinema. The premiere took place Wednesday evening in Ta' Qa- li, attended by journalists and local media personalities. The film focuses on the critical first minutes after a collision, showing the immediate re- sponse of emergency services and the human consequences of traffic accidents. It com- bines realistic storytelling with graphic content suitable for adults to emphasize how one poor decision can have devas- tating effects. Transport Minister Chris Bonett highlighted the impor- tance of the initiative, noting that it goes beyond traditional road safety messages such as avoiding driving under the in- fluence, addressing emerging issues like drug use and mobile phone distraction. Director Jason Zerafa said the filming was emotionally powerful, as the scenes reflect real situations that people un- fortunately experience. The mobile cinema tour will continue over the coming weeks, ensuring that Gozo and Malta residents experience the film first hand. The campaign is set to extend beyond the hol- iday season, reinforcing road safety as a year-round priority. 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. GozoToday is 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 ASSISTANT EDITOR: LAURA CALLEJA Tel: (356) 21 382741-3, 21 382745-6 Website: www.maltatoday.com.mt E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt 3 gozotoday | FRIDAY • 12 DECEMBER 2025 NEWS The mobile cinema tour will continue over the coming weeks, ensuring that Gozo and Malta residents experience the film first hand New road safety film launched focusing on critical first minutes after a collision Mayor's mother named in five-storey block application A planning application sub- mitted under the name of Rabat, Gozo mayor Brian Azzopardi's elderly mother proposes demolishing a cor- ner property with no heritage value and replacing it with a five-storey apartment block. The proposed development would create a blank party wall in an area still partly charac- terised by two-storey terraced houses. The development as pro- posed consists of two retail shops at ground-floor level, six apartments on the first, second, and third floors, and a receded setback floor with a pool. The surrounding ar- ea is partly characterised by two-storey houses. The block is being proposed on a corner site between Triq il-Kappuccini — the road lead- ing to the G&R supermarket in Marsalforn — and Triq Mattia Preti. Contacted by MaltaToday, mayor Brian Azzopardi said the property had been sold to a developer and is still subject to a promise of sale. He insisted his family was not involved in drafting the application, which he said was submitted by the developer using his mother's name since she still technically owns the house. Azzopardi also stated the proposed building falls with- in the parameters of the local plan, while declining to reveal the developer's identity. He said the promise of sale was signed in February and is not tied to the planning appli- cation, adding he only became aware of the application a few days ago when someone asked him about it. The application was submit- ted in June, and no objections were filed during the public consultation period. In its assessment, the Super- intendence of Cultural Herit- age (SCH) described the site as part of a legible streetscape characterised by properties of similar style and proportion. While noting that the exist- ing house has no heritage val- ue, the SCH expressed "some concern about the potential negative impact" the proposed development "may have" on views and vistas from the scheduled Ċittadella, which is on the Tentative List for UN- ESCO World Heritage inscrip- tion. To assess this, the SCH requested a series of photo- montages from different an- gles, which were duly submit- ted by the project architect. The architect also presented documentation showing eight other planning commitments in the vicinity with similar height approvals, including a recently approved five-sto- rey development a few metres away on the opposite side of Triq il-Kappuccini. That application was pro- cessed in stages, with the final permit issued in May. JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt A photomontage of the proposed development in Rabat, Gozo (circled red)