Drs Horace and Louise Gatt have written to Mepa on behalf of the Hagrat Apartments Residents' Association of Mgarr (Malta), warning that a proposed extension to a fireworks factory would create a danger.
They protested, in particular, over the fact that the Planning Directorate is recommending approval of the development application, which has been pending since 2005. No objections had been made to date.
The planning application is proposing the modernisation of the existing fireworks factory by the addition of a workshop, a room for the mixing of black powder and two compounding rooms. The development will include an emergency access passageway and the sanctioning of structures to be used as a changing room and store for paper/cardboard. A rubble wall is to be erected along part of the periphery.
Drs Gatt said the proposal would effectively double the size of the existing fireworks factory.
"Recent history, when the Santa Marija factory at Dwejra, Mosta, blew up, is a compelling argument against any further development," they said.
Drs Gatt said the application was ignoring the proximity of Hagrat and Skorba temples.
With regard to the 200m buffer needed between the factory and other development, they said any explosion in the factory would damage Mgarr cemetery and could pose a danger to people who visited the area frequently, even for Mass. The area is also used for parking of cars during Festa Frawli and other activities.
Dr Horace Gatt said that he had been at home when the Mosta fireworks factory exploded. "The underground shock was so strong that fissures opened up in buildings adjoining Fisher Road. Initially, my impression was that the Mgarr factory had blown up. I cannot imagine what would happen if an explosion of such magnitude happened at much closer proximity with a factory double in size of the actual facility," he said.
"Such damage could involve the government elementary school, Hagrat Temples (which do not have any mortar of any other adhesive material within their structure) and indeed the whole Mgarr village core."
He said that inadequate protection of a UNESCO-designated world heritage site such as Hagrat Temples would result in a downgrading, to the detriment of the country as a whole.
ARCHITECT' S REACTION
Architect Philip Mifsud, who submitted the planning application, said this fireworks factory had existed for several years.
The intervention, he said, would actually limit any potential danger, and this was therefore a step in the right direction.