Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/994982
NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 JUNE 2018 MASSIMO COSTA PLANS submitted by the gov- ernment for the upgrading of the Rabat road will include the uprooting of mature trees along the dual carriageway, whose transplantation into a central strip does not guaran- tee their longevity. While the government has attempted to play down re- ports of over 200 mature trees facing the chop for the road upgrade, their relocation into a centre-strip for road-widen- ing raises the prospect of even more loss of agricultural land. According to the plans, a large number of the mature Aleppo trees that line the road will be uprooted and a portion of them could be transplanted on a central-strip. The government has insisted that the new road project in- cludes new trees and land- scaping, although the risks of losing the mature trees and more agricultural trees have not been addressed. It was only yesterday that the plans posted to the PA website showed new trees being added to the road project, after The Times broke the story of the trees' removal. Back in December, biologist Alan Deidun warned about- claims of 'transplanting' Alep- po pine trees on the Xemxija- Mellieha stretch at Mistra as the trees would not survive the process. The Environment and Re- sources Authority had also objected to the uprooting of the same Aleppo trees on the Rabat road for Ludwig Camill- eri's proposed fuel pump sta- tion. Indeed, Camilleri's own environmental impact state- ment for the fuel pump station warned that the "potential for relocating these trees is very limited, given their maturity." The government yesterday denied that hundreds of trees in the area between Attard and Ta' Qali were going to be removed as part of a major road infrastructure project in the central areas of Malta. The Times reported that plans submitted a few days ago indicate almost 200 ma- ture trees, most of which are located in upper Mdina Road between Mount Carmel Hos- pital and the Saqqajja Hill junction, will have to be up- rooted to make way for the project. A considerable number of trees in lower Mdina Road, es- pecially those close to the San Anton Gardens junction, will also be removed. The government attempted to rubbish the claims, saying the majority of trees which the article made reference to in Mdina Road will remain where they are, to be protect- ed by means of a central strip, which will be built purposely between the road's two oppos- ing-direction carriages. "The environmental au- thorities suggested this solu- tion – with something similar having already been done for the Coast Road project in the Kennedy Grove area – and Transport Malta architects included it as part of the en- vironmental protection meas- ures which will be adopted," it said. An extra 212 trees will also be planted, the government underscored, highlighting that the project had been drawn up after discussions with the En- vironment and Resources Au- thority. "In cases where trees need to be uprooted to increase the safety of the new roads, these will be re-planted in other places, and new trees – of the same maturity and size – will replace them in the ar- eas where the trees were re- moved," it said. The €55 million Central Link Project announced last month, should take around two years to complete, and aims to im- prove the route between the Mriehel bypass in the direc- tion of Birkirkara, Balzan and Attard, going on to the Saqqaj- ja Hill roundabout, which con- nects Ta' Qali, Attard, Rabat, Zebbug and Mosta. Transport Minister, Ian Borg, had said that much less agricultural land would be used for the project than is actually permitted, and had highlighted that 19,300sq.m of landscaped areas would be added as a result of it. He did not however give any informa- tion related to the uprooting, or otherwise, of trees. mcosta@mediatoday.com.mt Mature Aleppo trees might not survive transplanting The government yesterday denied that hundreds of trees in the area between Attard and Ta' Qali were going to be removed