Ministry defends Ghadira proposal

The government has invited all those criticising the proposed road project at Għadira to propose preferable and environmentally acceptable alternatives.

In a statement replying to comments by Labour leader Joseph Muscat yesterday, the Infrastructure Ministry said it was true there were alternatives to the government’s most recent proposal, so much so that this proposal was the fifth. The other four were refused for environmental reasons.

Should an environmentally acceptable proposal be made, the government had no problem adopting it. So the Labour leader should say what the alternatives were so that one could see which was the most environmental friendly.

The ministry said that both ministers Austin Gatt and George Pullicino said that the road would not pass through the Foresta 2000 site and both said the government was willing to listen to alternative proposals before deciding which was the best route for this road.

As for Alternattiva Demokratika’s remarks that the proposed route would threaten the nature reserve, the ministry said this was absolutely not the case. While the current road was 53 metres away from the reserve, the proposed route would be 110 metres away.

The current road was well lit and at the same level of the reserve offering no shelter from noise. The proposed route would not be lit but would make use of reflectors for security and would include a structure aimed at containing noise.