Many residents of the Three Villages – Balzan, Attard and Lija, are extremely concerned about a number of development applications that have been submitted recently in their area. Most of these controversial applications intend to destroy existing gardens and construct monstrous structures of concrete in their stead. These localities were known for the beautiful gardens that surrounded the palaces and villas. Most of these gardens have been or are being destroyed to make space for more apartments, the majority of which remain vacant. Apart from losing their identity, our ‘villages’ are also losing their lungs!

In recent years, traffic flow has increased in our main roads, therefore air pollution has increased as well, and I ask, is removing more trees from our localities the solution to create better air? Trees are the only source of clean air in urban areas; therefore their removal results in the increase of diseases such as cancer, pulmonary problems, heart conditions and Alzheimer’s disease.

Also, our area is prone to flooding due to the intensive development that has taken place in the last decades. Gardens are the only source of water filtering into the water table, but once those gardens are covered in concrete, rainfall can no longer be absorbed by trees or soil but adds to the floodwaters. Even though a flood relief project is being carried out, the problem will not be solved if more developments take place, which will lead to more runoff water.

To conclude, I believe that it should be in everybody’s interest to save trees, and not just those situated in front of our doors. We should make sure that as a country we have a sufficient number of trees to purify our air from the ever-increasing number of cars on our roads. Let us make this a national issue and tackle it together and not just a regional problem which should be tackled by locals. I urge all those who are concerned about the destruction of trees, gardens and heritage to join us in an appeal to the authorities to protect our neighbourhoods, health and quality of life at a protest to be held at Old Railway Road corner with Triq il-Pagun in Balzan on Wednesday 30 October at 4.30pm.

Daniel Muscat

BALZAN