New Għadira road not on the cards for Labour

Labour Leader Joseph Muscat yesterday excluded the possibility that a Labour government would revive the idea of constructing a brand new road in Għadira to replace the present one.

Dr Muscat said his party believed the existing road should be retained but was looking forward to seeing the alternative proposals the government had mentioned when it had shelved the proposal to build a new road to widen Għadira Bay.

“The PL still believes that if there is the need for a new road, this should be based on the present road footprint. We are waiting for the alternatives the government has promised to be able to see what would change,” he said.

The controversial Għadira road project was shelved after being shot down by environmentalists. The proposal was to build a road passing behind the Seabank Hotel and the nature reserve.

The Għadira road forms part of Malta’s European Transport Ten-T network, which is the major route linking the Freeport to Ċirkewwa.

In October 2009, the government had said work was being temporarily stopped and EU funds earmarked for the project were to be redirected towards a new junction at Kappara.

The Labour Party was among those who had opposed the proposed project and when asked about it yesterday during a visit to the Hotel Riu Seabank Hotel, Dr Muscat said his party’s position on the proposal of a new road had not changed.

“We will not revive the idea. We believe that other projects, such as the Kappara junction, where thousands of Maltese are blocked daily, is more of a priority,” he said.

Sea Bank Hotel owner Silvio Debono, however, said he still believed a new road to remove the existing one would give a completely different look to the bay.

He was speaking to The Times following a visit by Dr Muscat to the €32 million project in which his hotel will be transformed into an all-inclusive resort. The extension, spread over 18,000 square metres of land, will see the number of rooms increasing by 340. About 10,000 square metres will be made up of gardens and open spaces.

He told Dr Muscat the management had “taken the risk” of turning the hotel into an all-inclusive resort where people with a budget would know exactly how much they were going to spend. This was a completely new concept for Malta and the hotel would soon embark on a marketing campaign to attract this type of tourist.

There had already been interest shown by large tour operators, such as Thomas Cook, asking to book more rooms.

The whole complex, which is also getting a facelift, is expected to be completed by next summer and another 150 people will be added to the group's 1,200-strong workforce.