The Central Link project does not solve the traffic issue in the long-term, activist group Extinction Rebellion said on Wednesday.

The group, which carried out another demonstration against the project, also lamented the fact that 500 mature trees that have been there since the time of the British will be cut down.

The activists also expressed solidarity with the farmers losing their agricultural land.

“The work being carried out goes against the spirit of the law because of an ongoing court appeal. Today, we learned that the project breaks even the conditions of the permit which it is based upon,” they said.

“We do not need a project which fails before work has even started. Real solutions exist. We will continue to propose as an alternative an effective, electric and free public transportation service, and the alternative solution of an underground tunnel. We want a politics of ambition, and we know that Attard, the environment and citizens deserve better," the group said.

In a statement, the Environment & Resources Authority (ERA) said that works which were not in conformity with the approved permit have been stopped by its enforcement officers, and only works covered by the permit were allowed to continue. “It is to also be noted that ERA’s permitting process has a procedural mechanism that allows for an applicant to deviate from approved plans through the submission of a Variation of Permit application, in which any proposed deviations from the permits that are yet to be undertaken are processed and considered on their own merits.”

This variation process does not consider sanctioning of works already undertaken, since such works are subject to enforcement action by ERA. Furthermore, deviations from approved drawings may only be undertaken once a variation application is duly considered, determined and approved, ERA said.

“Any works undertaken without approval, are subject to enforcement action by ERA.”