New plans for the Central Malta Link project have been uploaded to the Planning Authority Website, showing updated details regarding the trees planned to be uprooted, as well as new details of where trees will be planted along the project.

This particular road project has been under heavy fire lately, as it was uncovered that many trees along the route are set to be removed. New plans were submitted to the Planning Authority last Saturday, showing that many trees along the project’s route will be removed, but also showing that many new trees will be planted on newly created centre strips, or on the new sides of the road, given that the roads will be widened.

Arguments have been made not only on the uprooting and relocation of trees but also on whether it it is worth risking pulling out old trees, and whether the project would change the picturesque drive up to Mdina from Attard. Arguments have also been made questioning whether creating such a highway would really solve traffic issues, or whether it would just be a temporary fix until car numbers catch up again.

Transport Minister Ian Borg had addressed criticism made through an article which had read that some 200 trees would be removed from Mdina road (which forms part of the project), in a Facebook statement on 16 June, denying the allegation, and said that measures were going to be put in place to protect the trees there while adding that some 200 will be added. He said that according to the project, the majority of trees on Rabat Road will be left on site in a centre strip, and that 212 other trees will be planted in parts where currently there are none.

The minister said that the majority of trees on Mdina road will be left where they are, and protected through a central strip. The minister also said that where trees will be removed so that the new roads would be more secure, they will be replanted in other areas, while in the areas where they were removed new ones will be planted. He said that the new trees will be mature trees of roughly the same size.

eNGO Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar, however, on the same day as his post, rubbished the minister’s statement, saying that “while Ministry of Transport officials claim that the majority of the trees are to remain in place in a centre strip, the actual plans approved by the Planning Authority show that 79% of the 586 trees in the area are to be removed. These trees are around one hundred years old, and some could be much older as it is recorded that trees were planted on the Grandmasters’ route from San Anton Palace to Mdina. Along with the protected dry stone walls that line the road, these trees form part of Malta’s most loved vistas – that of the Mdina skyline which has been painted by artists for centuries, and has featured in films like ‘The Malta Story’. No civilised Western country would ever contemplate such destruction of national heritage and undermining of their tourism product – it is the equivalent of running a motorway through the Cotswold villages, to Assisi or to Mont Saint Michel.”

FAA also argued that creating a parallel road with the trees as a centre strip would destroy more agricultural land, “and the widening of the road from the Mount Carmel roundabout to Saqqajja hill is considered unnecessary as much of that road (up to the chapel) is already wide enough and indeed was marked as three or four lanes in the past.”

PN Environment spokesperson Jason Azzopardi has formally asked the Parliamentary Environment Committee to discuss in detail “this matter of huge concern.” The discussion will take place on Monday 2 July.

This is not the only area where government has been getting hit in terms of tree removal. Another incident saw government uproot some 24 trees for the Luqa Road (Santa Lucijia) project, however government said that it will plant a hundred trees to make up for it.

Another controversy also arose when it was revealed that a few trees in Balzan will also be removed over the Triq il-Wied re-alignment, and that the council said that the trees will be replanted elsewhere as their roots are currently damaging road infrastructure.