Moviment Graffitti activists spent the night in tents and a hammock at Mosta Square between Tuesday and Wednesday, shielding 12 mature trees from a controversial uprooting. 

“It was actually a very peaceful evening,” Moviment Graffitti member Michael Jordan said, swinging from a hammock he set up between two butchered trees and from where, he said, he could see birds flying above the bare trees.

He said residents had been supporting activists in their action by also being present on site up to 11pm on Tuesday night. 

Opposition leader and Mosta resident Bernard Grech also made an appearance on Tuesday night.

Both Grech and Prime Minister Robert Abela said the council should reconsider its decision to move the Ficus trees to another part of Mosta, with Grech even directing PN councillors to seek an urgent council meeting.

The PN said in a statement on Tuesday night that a motion calling for such a meeting had been filed.

By 8am on Wednesday, activists, aside from Jordan, who had spent the night on site had already gone home, swapping shifts with other Graffitti members.

'No way for public to appeal ERA decision'

Birdlife members turned up on site on Wednesday morning, with CEO Mark Sultana telling Times of Malta activists believe common sense will reign and that decision-makers will rethink the issue.

He pointed out that there is no way, at present that allows the public to appeal an ERA decision. This situation, he said, needed to change for the real problem to be solved.

Meanwhile, protestors chatted as they idly guarded a digger next to their tents while workers walked in and out of the site as works continued elsewhere. 

Behind the trees, two large containers held supplies such as safety gear, generators and cement mix.

The protest centres around the fate of 12 Ficus trees which have adorned the side of the Mosta Rotunda for half a century.

On Monday, the trees had their canopies cut down in preparation for uprooting and transplanting to the Santa Margherita area of Mosta.

The decision sparked anger among many who insist that no more trees should be sacrificed to pave the way for ‘development’.

On Tuesday evening, protester and Mosta resident Andre Callus was detained by police after authorities fenced off the area. Other activists were manhandled by officers. 

Callus returned to the crowd about 30 minutes later, uncuffed and unescorted.

The decision to uproot the trees, which the Mosta councillors had unanimously agreed upon, was greenlighted by the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA). 

Councillors refuse to comment

Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Tuesday evening that he believed councillors had done a poor job of communicating the decision and its rationale to residents. 

But councillors have so far kept quiet about the controversy. 

When contacted by Times of Malta on Tuesday, Mosta deputy mayor Rachel Abela and councillor Angele Rapa, whose responsibilities include legal advice, refused to comment.

Times of Malta tried getting comments from Mosta Mayor Christopher Grech and the remaining 10 councillors at the local council’s offices in Mosta, through social media or by phone. None were reachable.

Times of Malta re-attempted to contact Mayor Chris Grech on the phone and at his office on Wednesday. However, Grech was unreachable and a local council worker clarified that the mayor is only at the office on Saturdays. 

According to the Environment and Resources Authority’s case officers’ report, the council wants to remove the trees for design purposes.

Despite noting that the Ficus trees are considered protected in view of being located within an urban public open space, the ERA approved the application on October 31. 

Meanwhile, the architects behind the square refurbishments have distanced themselves from the decision to uproot the trees in the area.

“It is indeed a pity that these mature trees have been removed as, in our projects, whenever possible… we always seek to incorporate trees and other natural elements,” architectural firm Studjurban said on Tuesday

Moviment Graffitti will be holding a protest in front of the Mosta council offices on Wednesday at 6.30pm.