Infrastructure Malta today said it has started the process of planting Aleppo pine trees along the Saqqajja Hill in the limits of Rabat.

The trees, IM said on its Facebook page, will be planted in empty spaces along the road instead of other trees that died in the past but were never replaced.

IM said that another 539 indigenous trees will be planted along Mriehel, Birkirkara, Balzan, Attard and Ta’ Qali as part of the Central Link project.

This means “we’ll have 285 more trees than there are now,” IM said.

The government has been under fire for the past weeks after the Central Link project was approved by the Planning Authority. Protesters claimed that hundreds of trees were to be lost to provide for wider roads, with IM replying that the number of trees will actually be increased once the project is completed.