The government officially inaugurated the controversial Central Link road project on Sunday morning.

The road, from Mrieħel to the foot of Rabat hill, has 14 kilometres of lanes without the need for traffic lights. Following controversy over the removal of mature trees along part of the route, the new road features 1,160 new indigenous trees and nearly 14,000 plants and bushes. It also has 10 kilometres of walkways, four kilometres of cycling tracks and 12 bus stops.

Although the €55 million project has been declared finished, much work remains to be done at  Mrieħel, where an underpass is being built.

The new road was part-financed by European Union funds. Infrastructure Malta, which handled the project, says it has cut down travelling times by half and pollution from particulate matter by 66%.

Prime Minister Robert Abela unveiled a commemorative stone with, Transport Minister Ian Borg in the presence of, among others, EU funds Parliamentary Secretary Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi and Infrastructure Malta CEO Frederick Azzopardi.

Abela said that despite controversy and criticism, the people could now see that the project was beneficial for the economy, for the environment and for their health.

Works on the Central Link began in 2019.

Its inception was mired in controversy, with environmental activists decrying the large number of mature trees that were to be uprooted to make way for wider lane. Several activists had tied themselves up to large trees, calling on the government not to uproot them.

Infrastructure Malta subsequently modified plans but hundreds of mature trees were nevertheless removed.

As he took the podium on Sunday morning, Minister Ian Borg said his office had prepared a speech for him but he had decided to leave it in the car and go off-script. He then went on to tell his audience a story.

"Once, a friend of mine in politics came to my office and gave me a wooden figurine of a tortoise. It is still there in my office. He told me that if I wanted to do good and deliver, I needed to be like a tortoise," Borg recounted.

"He told me, 'like the tortoise, you must stick your neck out, grow a hard shell, take the weight on your shoulders and walk slowly, but steadily, towards your goals'. And he was right because at the beginning of this project we had genuinely thought everybody would be happy with it, but then all the controversy broke out."

He went on to say that in reality, only a few were really and truly against the project, and many of those are now grateful for it.

Borg also said the roads are now safer.

"So many lives were lost here. When I was just 18-years-old, I lost a friend and a neighbour a few metres away from here in a traffic accident," he said.

"Today I pass through these roads with pride, seeing people jogging and cycling, knowing we did something right and with a clear conscience that if, in the future, anyone ever tells my daughter that her father uprooted trees here, they'll be able to count all the trees we planted or see an aerial view of them from Google Earth."

Works on the underpass are still in progress at Mrieħel.

Infrastructure Malta CEO Frederick Azzopardi said the Central Link was now home to 950 more trees than there were before the beginning of the project.

The Prime Minister said people will spend less time in traffic and in better air quality.

"We had become accustomed to getting stuck in traffic here, and it got very frustrating," Abela said.

"That is not to say that we do projects just to accommodate cars. Ideally, we should reduce car use, but we won't do that by punishing our people on abandoned roads. We do it by increasing incentives, as we did here, where we paved the longest cycling lane in the country."

Abela said the project will blend in with the regeneration of Ta' Qali, saying it will be an international-level attraction for residents and tourists alike.

"We had become accustomed to getting stuck in traffic here, and it got very frustrating," Abela said. Photo: DOI.