Environmental NGOs are threatening to lodge a formal complaint to the EU against the Ten-T Ghadira road project should this be accepted by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar, Nature Trust Malta, Ramblers Association of Malta, Din L-Art Helwa, Friends of the Earth Malta, GAIA Foundation, and BirdLife Malta said the project, being proposed by the ADT, was based on the allegation that the existing road was causing the erosion of Ghadira beach.

The environmental NGOs said that in the absence of any scientific evidence on the alleged beach erosion and its causes, MEPA should inform the ADT that the proposed project was a non-starter.

The NGOs decided to take action at EU level after they learned that the ADT had submitted four draft Project Description Statements (PDS) to MEPA on August 4. The NGOs were informed these were still in draft form and therefore not available to the public. In March, the ADT had submitted three outline proposals for the TEN-T Ghadira road project to MEPA and a fourth proposal was submitted in April.

“By submitting the draft Project Description Statements for all four options to MEPA, the Maltese authorities are evidently pressing on with this destructive and unjustified project in spite of overwhelming public opposition," Tolga Temuge, BirdLife Malta executive director said.

Three of the proposals call for the removal of the existing road and the building of a new road in the EU protected area, while one contradicts the apparently “fundamental” reason for the road project - the alleged erosion of Ghadira Beach - by calling for the existing road to remain and be upgraded, the NGOs said.