I would like to refer to the Alternattiva Demokratika (AD) statement a few days ago regarding the relocation of the Gozo law courts.

I fully endorse AD’s position that the Gozo law courts should not be relocated in the open space left in the centre of Victoria known as Pjazza l-Assedju 1551 which is also a residential area.

Apart from this, we residents have not been at all consulted with regards to the plans of the buildings, which will certainly affect our quality of life.

Before the last election, the government was proposing that the new law courts should be incorporated in the new building of the Lyceum School Complex, but it now transpires that the plans changed altogether without the residents being informed.

Unlike other local councils, the Victoria local council remained totally silent on these proposals leaving us citizens on our own to struggle in this battle to safeguard this open space left in Victoria.

I have my doubts about Malta Environment Planning Authority (Mepa), but I wonder if Mepa will accept such proposal without the necessary studies concerning the impact of this development on this residential area. Can we residents have access to any studies that have been done or is everything going to be kept secret?

The government should take up AD’s proposal to relocate the new law courts in the vacant complex formerly rented to Malta Dairy Products (MDP) just outside Victoria, where commuters could be served by a shuttle bus service. This way the much talked-about traffic congestion in Victoria would ease considerably.

After all, such unsustainable development in the heart of Victoria contradicts what the Gozo Ministry is proposing for our island, supposedly to be referred to as eco-Gozo.

Carmel Scicluna

Victoria