Birżebbuġa does not feature in Malta’s noise maps that indicate which areas are most at risk because of the locality’s small size and population.

The European Commission and the government have both denied allegations by Labour MEP Edward Scicluna that the government deliberately chose not to include Birżebbuġa in the document presented a few weeks ago to the EU.

On the contrary, a Commission official said that even if the government wanted to, it could not have included the locality because it was too small to qualify under EU rules.

“This is not the first time this issue has been raised and we had already told Prof. Scicluna it is not possible for Birżebbuġa to qualify,” the official said.

Prof. Scicluna, who will be contesting the election on the district that includes this locality, said the government’s decision was “further testimony that Birżebbuġa residents are being treated as second class citizens and not like EU citizens”. An EU directive obliges member states to draw up noise maps and an action plan to mitigate the risks of high noise.

Malta’s maps only take into consideration the busiest major roads as these are the only areas that qualify under the directive. This says that “member states shall ensure that strategic noise maps are made for all agglomerations with more than 250,000 inhabitants and for all major roads which have more than six million vehicle passages a year”.