A delegation from the European Commission gave Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) officials a dressing down regarding the waiver of an environment impact assessment report on the Fort Cambridge Area project, The Malta Independent on Sunday has learnt.
Several sources confirmed to this newspaper that the delegation was concerned about MEPA’s lack of initiative in not requesting an environment impact assessment (EIA) when the project actually qualified for one.
According to the application proposal, the project includes the demolition of the existing hotel, restoration of Cambridge Battery, six apartment blocks with 386 flats, four levels of underground parking, private service amenities for residents and change of use from barracks to offices.
However, it was stated, for the first time ever, that there was the likelihood that the EIA would be waived in the Fort Cambridge Area Development Brief, which was approved in January.
“The developer will be required to prepare a detailed Project Description Statement which includes evaluation of likely impacts, in which case MEPA may waive the requirement to prepare an environmental planning statement for the development,” stated the development brief.
MEPA issued a legal notice in the Government Gazette on 23 February confirming the waiver of the environmental planning statement for the Fort Cambridge Area project.
It was stated in the waiver that the developer proposed measures to reduce impacts on air quality due to construction vehicles and during the construction.
However, sources pointed out that Sliema is one of the three localities where air quality has actually deteriorated since 2005 and queried what tests had actually been carried out to assess the long-term impact on air quality.
The waiver also stated that the shadows caused by the proposed building – a 230-storey tower and five blocks of 14 to 18 storeys – would be similar to the current situation, which is two blocks of four and six storeys respectively.
According to EU EIA Directives, member States have to ensure that before consent for any project is given, “projects likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue, inter alia, of their nature, size or location are made subject to a requirement for development consent and assessment with regard to their effect.”
Article 2 states that member States “may, in exceptional cases, exempt a specific project in whole or part from the provisions in this directive in this directive”.
When this is the case, member States shall either see whether another form of assessment is appropriate.
Furthermore, it has to make available to “the public concerned the information obtained under other forms of assessment, the information relating to the exemption decision and the reasons for granting it.
More importantly, all member States have to “inform the Commission, prior to granting consent, of the reasons justifying the exemption granted, and provide it with information made available where applicable to their own nationals”.
All the documents received by the European Commission will be immediately forwarded to other member States, it added.
However, sources said that since Malta became a member of the EU, MEPA has not justified the waiver of an EIA in at least 17 projects, including Fort Cambridge.