Updated 4.15pm with PN's comments
Environment and heritage NGO Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar has slammed plans by Infrastructure Malta to widen the road leading from Victoria to Marsalforn in Gozo.
Infrastructure Malta has filed an application to widen the road. The project has yet to be approved.
The proposed project will see 180 trees uprooted, 54 of which are protected species, the NGO said. The trees were described as a 'safety hazard' in the project's description statement.
In a statement, the NGO condemned the project and lamented the further loss of agricultural land as a result of the TEN-T road network project.
The FAA questioned the need for the road widening. It pointed out that the project description statement itself says that: “In general, traffic congestion is not present in either traffic flow direction along the link, except for occasional congestion occurring in the initial segment of the street. ... The roundabout arm of Triq Kapuccini has a narrow carriage width which causes an occasional bottleneck."
Such comments, FAA said, made it amply clear that this road widening exercise was not justified and would destroy the rural character of one of Gozo’s most beautiful valleys, leading from Marsalforn to the Cittadella," FAA Coordinator Astrid Vella said.
"We call on the new government to come up with creative solutions to provide bus bays and improve safety without sacrificing yet more countryside and trees to slice a motorway through this iconic valley”.
Electric bus welcomed
FAA also welcomed the introduction of Malta's first electric buses, calling it a "step in the right direction", while requesting Transport Malta to look into implementing smaller buses more suited to narrow village streets and which run more frequently.
"Seeing over 40 people queuing at bus stops in January, when tourist numbers are at their lowest, does not encourage the public to use public transport," they said.
Malta Public Transport said this week that it had started testing a fully electric bus to see how it suited local roads and traffic flows.
The Vero 9 test bus will operate in parallel with the current public transport network.
Gozo Minister should find alternative solution - PN
The destruction of 180 trees is an environmental catastrophe that follows in the steps of the Central Link Project, according to the PN.
The Opposition called on the Gozo Minister to stop the "destruction" and find an alternative solution.
This is the minister's first test, the Opposition said in a statement, urging the government to confirm whether an application for the works had been submitted with the planning and environmental authorities.