Ghadira road project dropped from EU funding application

The government has shelved plans to include the building of a new road in Ghadira in an application for EU funds, and will instead seek those funds for the building of a new junction at Kappara, Transport and Communications Minster Austin Gatt said today.

He told a press conference said the government was still waiting for Mepa to issue terms of reference for an Environment Impact Assessment into the proposed road in Ghadira.

But since the terms of reference had not been issued yet and the time window for the application for EU funds was very tight, the government had decided not to rush matters and instead seek funding for the Kappara junction.

The minister said that after the required studies, the Ghadira road would, if necessary, be built from state funds.

British expert, Kenneth Pye, who was present for the news conference, had conducted a study that confirmed that the current Ghadira road was harming the beach, leading to beach erosion. He had warned that it could lead to the disappearance of the beach in the future. He said that if the road was removed, there was a danger of seawater flooding of the nature reserve in storms and it was possible to save both the beach and the nature reserve, such as by the building of sand dunes.

The government, Dr Gatt said, was commited to save both the beach and the reserve.

Mr Pye's report can be seen at:

https://mitc.gov.mt/MediaCenter/PDFs/1_Coastal%20Geomorphological%20Changes.pdf .

In a statement this evening, the Labour Party said this decision proved it and leader Joseph Muscat right.