The country’s democratic principles are at stake in next Thursday’s vote on the proposed ITS development site, activists and Pembroke residents said.

Speaking during a press conference on Tuesday, Pembroke residents and 12 NGOs launched their final appeal against the controversial db Group proposed project.

“Will the Planning Authority defend our democracy - which defends the interest of the majority - or the interest of the few,” Moviment Graffitti activist Andre Callus asked.

The Planning Authority will next Thursday vote on the controversial project on the ITS site. The €300 million City Centre project – which has since inception been embroiled in major controversy over the €60 million developers db Group paid for the public land – will include a 37-storey tower, a 17-storey Hard Rock Hotel, a casino and shopping mall.

A record number of over 4,000 objections to the proposed project on the ITS site were submitted to the Planning Authority.

This was a crucial vote for the country and the Planning Authority has the responsibility to do the right thing, Mr Callus said.

People are objecting to this project since it will “bury people alive”, under a massive structure involving a 37-storey tower and a 19-storey hotel that would be built only a few metres away from residents as well as near an area of ecological importance.

Swieqi mayor Noel Muscat decried the project as a non-starter, adding that it will affect residents and drastically increase the amount of human traffic in areas which are already densely populated.

Pembroke mayor Dean Hili said the country was simply not big enough to accommodate a project on such a large scale.

The reasons why the project should not be accepted are endless, Mr Callus added.

He pointed out that not one organisation has stood up to defend the project. “They have either stayed silent or objected to it,” he said.

The two major political party leaders have also failed to come out against the project. In spite of this, Mr Callus said, activists and residents have not lost hope.

“We know we are up against Goliath, but in the end we also know the little guy had won that fight,” he said.

PN leader Adrian Delia, speaking late on Tuesday also said the PN representative on the PA board, Marthese Portelli, will be voting against the project because it is not within regulations. 

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