PL accuses government of wasting time on Għadira

The Labour Party yesterday accused the goverment of wasting time and making bad decisions in relation to the Għadira Road project.

The PL said the fact that the Għadira project had been discarded confirmed that its leader Joseph Muscat was right when, last year, he appealed for the project to be replaced by other higher priority initiatives which would benefit more from EU funds.

He had mentioned the Kappara junction as an example.

It said that if the government had followed Dr Muscat's advice a year ago, work on the Kappara junction project could have already begun.

The statement follows Transport Minister Austin Gatt's announcement last Friday that the plan to build a new road in Għadira has been shelved and that EU funds earmarked for the project will go toward the construction of a new junction in Kappara.

The Transport Minister said that the Malta Environment and Planning Authority had procrastinated in issuing the terms of reference for the environmental impact assessment for the project, and said this was what prompted the ministry to put the project on the back-burner, since the deadline for submitting proposals for EU funding was very tight.

In a statement later, the Transport Ministry accused the PL of being indifferent to the environment and of being solely interested in political gain.

This was especially so considering an expert clearly told a news conference on Friday that in its current location, the road was posing a threat to such an important bay, the ministry said.