Updated 4pm

More than 5,300 people had filed objections against the db Group’s construction project in Pembroke by Friday at 4pm, with opponents to the project saying the plans continued to spark “record” levels of public anger. 

Local councils of Pembroke, Swieqi and St Julian’s, environmental and cultural NGOs have led the charge against the City Centre project, which faced more than 14,000 objections across three representation periods over the past three years. 

Five thousand people objected to the first application, and 6,000 objected to the second proposal after the courts revoked the permit to start building.

The third of those representation periods ends on Friday afternoon and follows the company’s decision to revise its initial plans for the site. 

The City Centre project will see two high-rise towers built by St George's Bay, hosting a hotel, private residences and large retail space.  

The company has insisted that it has taken concerns into account, that a National Audit Office investigation found no wrongdoing on its part and argued that it is being unfairly targeted for criticism.   

Activists say the project will leave Pembroke residents in its shadow, breaches local plan provisions and is entirely dependent on plans to build a tunnel which are separate to the project application. 

In a statement noting the thousands of objections, nine NGOs said that the sheer numbers indicated that people had not been fooled by db Group and its “aggressive PR campaign that has flooded every type of media with adverts of their monstrosity.” 

“The truth is that everyone, ranging from residents and local councils to business organisations and NGOs, remains opposed to the building of a commercial structure of massive width, height and volume, in a residential area and adjacent to sensitive natural sites,” the NGOs said. 

They called on authorities to cancel the project, revoke the “illegitimate” deal that handed the project land to db Group and “return that land to the people”. 

NGOs which signed the statement: 

1.     Bicycle Advocacy Group
2.     BirdLife Malta
3.     Din l-Art Ħelwa
4.     Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar
5.     Friends of the Earth Malta
6.     Moviment Graffitti
7.     Nature Trust Malta
8.     The Malta Archaeological Society
9.     Żminijietna – Voice of the Left 

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