Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/594552
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 2015 13 UPCFOFGJUGSPN JODPNFUBYDVU #Budget2016 roundabout €1.5 million to remove asbestos pipes from Hal Far TIM DIACONO €1.5 million in EU funds are be- ing spent to help remove asbestos pipes that have lain discarded at Hal Far for around 30 years. EU funds parliamentary secre- tary Ian Borg told MaltaToday that the money will come out of €11 million saved by Transport Malta through the renegotiation of a contract for the Coast Road regeneration project. "The government followed the European Commission's advice to carry out a 25% financial cor- rection from the original con- tract, and reallocate the money to educational and environmen- tal programmes that the govern- ment would otherwise have spent public funds on anyway," Borg said. Other than the removal of the asbestos, the money saved will also be reallocated on purchasing new laptops for teachers, and on apparatus at MCAST to "aid in social inclusion". The asbestos pipes have lain discarded at Hal Far for decades and have previously been used as shelter by irregular immigrants. Works to remove the 1,500 tonnes of asbestos commenced in August by waste handling com- pany PT Matic. The pipes will be packaged and shipped off to Portugal to be bur- ied in an underground landfill. An as-yet-unpublished report by the European Court of Audi- tors recommended that the gov- ernment withdraw €11 million in funds for the Coast Road project, because Transport Malta did not respect public procurement rules. Borg said that in February 2013, Transport Malta awarded an €83 million contract to a tenderer for the Coast Road works, despite it being some €30 million more expensive than the original esti- mates. Transport Malta re-entered negotiations with all contractors and a final €53 million contract was finalised in April 2014. Homeless refugees were taking shelter in the Hal Far asbestos pipes, which have spent decades on site without ever being moved AD decry lack of consultation over Coast Road 'road studs' GREEN party Alternattiva Demokratika has criticised Transport Malta for failing to consult adequately with cyclists prior to installing 'road studs' on the newly-tarmacked Coast Road. In a statement, AD sports spokesperson Claire Azzopardi Lane warned that the 'studs' are uncomfortable and unsafe, par- ticularly for cyclists using nar- row wheel rims. Transport Malta has said that the 'studs' are actually 'rumble strips' that were installed to add an extra layer of protection to cyclists. However, Azzopardi Lane said that conflicting international guidelines exist in relation to rumble strips and road studs, and that open consultation with cyclists would have given TM the information required in the context. "Numerous negative comments have been posted on social media by competitive and leisure cy- clists in response to these studs on the Coast Road," she said, while countering TM's explana- tion that the road isn't used for competitive cycling events. "During such events roads are closed to traffic and cyclists com- pete on an open road," she said. "However, cyclists use the Coast Road to train for such events, thus these studs would not only hinder but could also possibly cause serious accidents."