Summer of 2011 saw Transport Malta working on the Rabat road in connection with the arrival of the Arriva public transport system.
An interchange with two bus stops was planned adjacent to the road leading to Ta’ Qali. Two stretches of protected rural rubble walls, one on each side of the road, were brought down and replaced by a brick wall.
The plans also included tree mutilations, at that time so reminescent of Transport Malta.
A number of protected Aleppo trees more than 50 years old in this outside development zone felt the brunt of the action taken and the chainsaw, one with a substanial limb cut off, some had nails driven in them and others engulfed in concrete (‘Trees, rubble walls and BSS’, August 26, 2011).
Mepa, the environmental watchdog, watched from a distance in its Floriana ravelin. When public criticism escalated and the brick walls were completed, Mepa, through a letter in Times of Malta (September 6, 2011) informed the public that it had given “Transport Malta up to 15 days to remove the illegality, following which Mepa may then take direct action”.
Fifteen day passed, followed by 15 weeks and the brick walls were still standing. After the lapse of about another 15 months – during which Mepa was still ruminating on its impotency to control the mauling of environmental and public assets, presumably still contemplating its original 15 days deadline – the brick walls were pulled down.
And, lo and behold, they were replaced by iron railings as illegal as the brick walls they replaced in the rubble wall breach.
According to the Rubble Wall and Rural Structures (Conservation and Maintenance) Regulations, 1997, a ‘rubble wall’ means a dry stone wall, built in loose, unhewn stones that stands by gravity and friction without the use of mortar.
Furthermore, it is unlawful to demolish or to endanger by any means whatsoever, the stability or integrity of any rubble wall, or to prevent free percolation of rainwater through the structure of a rubble wall, or to undermine the foundations of such rubble wall.
Rumours had it that a roundabout was planned at the cross-section to Ta’ Qali, including more tree mutilations and uprooting of some of the old protected Aleppo pines.
But before such plans were put into action the date for the general election was announced.
Last month, heavy machinery descended on the area. The iron railings disappeared. Instead two rubble walls rose from beneath the street level, incorporating also two bus stops.
Not only the old Aleppo pines were not touched, but the suffocating concrete around their trunks was broken up to allow for a water trench. Even the nails that were driven in the tree trunks in 2011 were removed.
From the works on site, it seems that there are no plans for any roundabout. Pity that the new rubble walls surface was covered with cement, which will prevent free percolation of rainwater through the structure, contrary to the above-menionted regulations.
Rubble walls are protected also because they afford a habitat for flora and fauna.
The environment and development should walk hand in hand with economic, social and ecological benefits
It seems though that there is a little flicker of light (and of hope) at the end of the tunnel and that, at least in this case, the planning and adjustment of roads is not at the whims and fancies of an uncontrolled bulldozer but subject to professional planning and environmental management, although this can be bettered.
One hopes that this approach, a bit more refined, is extended and taken in consideration in other development projects, whether on land or at sea.
If this becomes the rule of thumb, then one can hopefully look at the day when environment and development not excluding landscaping can walk hand in hand with economic, social and ecological benefits.
Meanwhile, one can only keep one’s fingers crossed and hope that Mepa’s unprofessional interpretation of its vision will be something of the past, for the good of the country and this and future generations.
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