Updated 5.15pm, adds Arnold Cassola's reply to Infrastructure Malta 

The Ombudsman has ordered Infrastructure Malta to publish detailed plans for the Pembroke-St Julian’s Connections project.

Plans for the road project, which extends from the Coast Road to Regional Road, before the Manwel Dimech Bridge and the northern portals of the Ta’ Giorni, have been kept under wraps and this was "unacceptable", the Ombudsman's Commissioner for Environment and Planning said.

He said this was because the relative Planning Authority file showed there already were several finalised documents, which were being used by the authority to consult several public entities.

In a reply, the agency denied it was withholding information. It insisted it replied to all requests for information and documents made by the Planning Authority and other statutory authorities and that it was also consulting the public.

The Commissioner was reacting to a request by Swieqi resident Arnold Cassola, on September 11, to investigate why the agency was insisting on keeping plans under wraps.

In May, Infrastructure Malta announced the project, which extends from the Coast Road to Regional Road, before the Manwel Dimech Bridge and the northern portals of the Ta’ Giorni tunnels.

Plans include the development of four new tunnels and the reconstruction of St Andrew’s Road to help solve the traffic problem and improve the safety and efficiency of the arterial connections in Pembroke, St Julian’s and other nearby areas and localities.

The Commissioner ruled that it was unfair that the public was given a few days to make its representations according to PA procedures when they could be immediately informed, by the agency, of the progress being made in a national project of such importance.

The Commissioner recommended that the agency publish the documents as presented to the Planning Authority or more updated versions as soon as possible for the sake of transparency and the protection of environmental rights.

The office asked to be informed of what action the agency intended to take by October 10.

What does Infrastructure Malta has to say?

In its reply to the Commissioner, Infrastructure Malta said plans for the project were submitted to the Planning Authority on June 6 and the authority was free to make these available to the public for its consultation process online.

It said that when it announced the project on May 4 it had published a detailed design showing the public the new roads and the four tunnels being proposed to improve the arterial road network.

All those interested in the project could come forward and discuss it with the agency before the Planning Authority process had even started.

It said that as soon as the project was announced, it immediately embarked on meetings with the relevant councils, other entities, residents, and anyone who asked for more information. No request for information was received from Prof. Cassola.

The agency said it had no objection to the publication of plans by the competent authorities through the applicable procedures, as happened with any other development application.

I do not have a servile mentality - Arnold Cassola's 

Replying to Infrastructure Malta, Prof. Cassola said he made no request for information to Infrastructure Malta because he did not have a servile mentality.

"I am not ready to go and beg individually to be given some sort of privileged information by an authority that is now run by party hacks," he said in a statement.

Prof. Cassola said the whole land-permits-road system had been completely taken over by the party faithful. Former Labour Party official Frederic Azzopardi was CEO of Infrastructure Malta, former Labour Party CEO James Piscopo of the Lands Authority, Labour Party aficionado Johann Buttigieg of the Planning Authority. All had near-absolute powers of decision.

"I shall certainly not go begging to these people. I come from a generation where we were taught what dignity and self-respect means... whenever in search of transparency and good governance, I will continue to seek redress with those few institutions, such as the Office of the Ombudsman, the Commissioner for Standards and the NAO, that still have the interests of the State and the common good at heart," Prof. Cassola said.