Over 650 objections to the controversial central link project have already been made as part of a campaign launched by Attard residents who fear it would be detrimental to them.
Unveiled last May, the €55-million project aims to alleviate traffic congestion, particularly the bottleneck at Triq in- Zarb.
Attard residents were up in arms after discovering that this would result in a new bypass adjacent to their properties, splitting the village in two. Concerns were also raised that this would result in more emissions because the bypass would be close to their houses.
Aggrieved by the plans, a group of people formed the Attard Residents Environmental Network with the aim of raising awareness on a number of issues and pile pressure on the government to change the designs.
Times of Malta was informed that the Planning Authority had received 660 submissions within the public consultation exercise, which opened on July 25.
A spokesman for the residents’ group expressed satisfaction at having been able to mobilise a large number of people in such a short period of time.
“We are objecting to this proposed project as presented by Transport Malta because all indications are that Attard shall not see a decrease in traffic,” he said.
“The group believes that Attard deserves much better and is working on proposing alternatives, including a proper four-lane bypass, which would see all residents gain as a community,” the spokesman added.
Attard deserves much better
Though no further details were given, it is understood that the matter was on the agenda of a recent “positive” meeting with Transport Minister Ian Borg.
In their objection letters, residents raised issues related to loss of large tracts of agricultural land, transport-related matters, pollution and concerns that part of the village would be marginalised.
Referring to the government’s own 2025 transport master plan, they noted that increasing the supply and capacity of roads in Malta was neither an effective nor a sustainable medium-term solution. The project was moving in a diametrically-opposed direction, the residents charged.
They backed their argument saying that the Malta Strategic Plan for Environment and Development (SPED) recommended shifting the emphasis from new road construction to better integration of public transport priority measures on better-managed roads.
From a sociological perspective, they expressed concern the bypass would be “segregating” about 1,200 residents who would be cut off from basic amenities on the other side of the village such as schools, churches and health clinics.
Objections were also raised regarding toxic emissions, despite the government saying the central link project would actually result in a 13 per cent drop in pollution because congestion would presumably be eased.
However, residents claim that half of Attard will be exposed to increased pollution levels that could put them at higher risk of cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and even issues with reproduction.
The residents also accused Transport Malta of neither following its own strategy, nor the master plan and neither the SPED.