Ghadira road: zero option should not be excluded - Deidun

Consultants engaged on the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) on the various Ghadira road alternatives should be jointly chosen between the (ADT) and objectors to the development, including farmers and NGOs such as Birdlife, Nationalist candidate Alan Deidun has said.

He made his comments during a meeting with farmers who work their fields in the area of the proposed new road.

In addition, he said, the same objectors should be given the oportunity to appoint their own experts and be accorded financial aid to meet the expenses of this consultation. This would instill confidence that the process was transparent.

Dr Deidun argued that the zero option - that of maintaining the status quo, should not be discounted.

Claims that the existing road was causing the erosion of the beach at Ghadira had to be substantiated by extensive modelling exercises which would then have to be spelt out to the layman in clear terms.

Dr. Deidun said that projects funded through EU had to respect stringent environmental standards and follow a rigorous system of green certification. The fact that the Mellieha Bay environs featured the Foresta 2000 site, the Ghadira bird sanctuary, the il-Hofra site, which was a protected area of ecological importance and extensive garigue stretches should preclude fast-tracking of any of the four submitted proposals.