Trees saved from axe
A decision has been taken to keep the trees lining the Senglea promenade after protests were held to stop them being uprooted to make space for embellishment works. According to new design proposals submitted to the Malta Environment and Planning...
A decision has been taken to keep the trees lining the Senglea promenade after protests were held to stop them being uprooted to make space for embellishment works.
According to new design proposals submitted to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, only 11 of the 44 trees will be moved, the Transport Ministry said.
They will be relocated close by to make space for the road to be widened, the ministry said.
Last Saturday Senglea residents joined forces to call on the Government to protect the trees.During a press conference held along the promenade, environmental organisation Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar started a petition calling on the authorities to stop the destruction of trees.
The residents argued that the trees had been there for more than 50 years and managed to withstand the harsh weather in the area. They also provided clean air in the locality.
The previous Thursday the ministry said the existing trees along the promenade would be shifted by a few metres to accommodate road alignment as part of €1.6 million EU funded embellishment project of the Senglea waterfront.
The plan was to line to promenade with other indigenous trees.
In a statement issued yesterday, the ministry said no one had objected to the moving of the trees when the project was out for public consultation and, as a result, the planning authority had issued the permit.
“At the moment there are 44 trees – 30 Ficus and 14 Tamarisk – and to ensure that the ministry does not disturb the present situation, it will present new designs to Mepa.
These will only require moving three Ficus trees and eight Tamarisk trees,” the ministry said.
These trees will be replanted close by. This will be done to be able to widen the road so that coaches that service cruise liners will be able to pass through and also to widen the pavement.
As a consequence to this, the hard standing facility for boat owners will have to be smaller than originally planned.
It is not yet clear whether the new design will mean fewer parking bays, the ministry said.