Qormi farmers and residents are up in arms against what they described as yet another mysterious road-building project, in which state agency Infrastructure Malta plans to build a new flyover in the Mriehel bypass.
This project will necessitate the taking up of over 20 tumoli of arable land and forever destroy the farming activity in the area, they said during an activity organised by NGO Moviment Graffitti.
The proposed road, whose plans are currently unavailable on the PA’s mapserver, will cut through agricultural land larger than three football pitches in an ODZ. It will also spell the end of one of the last green lungs in Qormi, already strangled by traffic agglomerations that have further served to congest the area and reduce the air quality.
In addition, the flyover will mean the destruction of a huge water reservoir and the uprooting of a number of protected olive and pomegranate trees, some of which date hundreds of years.
Farmers expressed their dismay at the way Infrastructure Malta simply decided, without notification, “to take their lands, as the project is veiled in a shroud of secrecy that has now become the roads’ agency standard way of operating”, a statement issued by the NGO said. They are also worried about the way these works are carried out, citing experiences from other farmers in the island who have faced similar situations.
Residents are dismayed at the fact that the flyover will also destroy the new footbridge connecting Mriehel to Qormi, in what they say is a further blow to pedestrian accessibility. The footbridge, proposed by then-MP Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, was inaugurated less than two years ago with the aim of reducing fatal accidents in the busy Imriehel Bypass. Moreover, residents have voiced their concerns about the integrity of a historical watchtower, built during Grandmaster Pinto’s rule, which dates approximately 500 years.
“We question what is the logic behind this project,” said the residents in a statement. “There is nothing to be gained in terms of traffic flow since this flyover will create a new bottleneck closer to the roundabout leading to Qormi, and we suspect that this project is being carried out to service the commercial developments in Imriehel.”
A Moviment Graffitti spokesperson criticised Infrastructure Malta’s behaviour, branding it as “an arrogant and blatant show of bullying.”
Infrastructure Malta planning long-awaited Mriehel Bypass safety upgrade
In reply, Infrastructure Malta said tthe planned safety upgrade, which is still in initial design stages, involves the construction of a flyover at the junction between the Mriehel Bypass (Royal Malta Artillery Avenue) and In-Negozju Street, an accident black spot that has been calling for improvement for many years. This upgrade will not widen the bypass, which will remain with two lanes in each direction, as it is now. However, additional land along the sides of this road is required for the flyover that will eliminate the existing accident black spot, where vehicles are currently forced to make a sharp turn against oncoming traffic to reach Mriehel through In-Negozju Street. This T-junction has been the site of several fatal collisions since the Bypass was built in the 1990s. Additional land is also required for a new cycle lane and footpath along the same Bypass, which does not currently have any facilities for alternative modes of travel.
This safety upgrade is specified in the National Transport Master Plan Malta 2025, which ranks it as the eighth most important arterial road upgrade required to ensure the safety and efficiency of the TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Network - Core and Comprehensive) in Malta, as required by Regulation (EU) 1315/2013. This road’s junction safety is also highlighted as a principal point of concern in the 2006 Central Malta Local Plan. The Plan identifies safety upgrades to the Mriehel Bypass as one of the area’s policy priorities: “MEPA will support and encourage the ADT and other bodies to undertake works and measures to control parking, remove safety hazards and regulate movements along the Mriehel By-pass.”
The agency clarifies that this junction safety upgrade in the Mriehel Bypass is still in its initial planning stages and that there was no attempt to implement it by stealth, as alleged during Saturday’s press conference. In fact, the landowners who addressed the press conference found out about this proposed upgrade after they were contacted by Infrastructure Malta to launch initial stakeholder consultations required to finalise the project designs with the least possible adverse impacts in the area.
The landowners who addressed the press conference were invited to two meetings with Infrastructure Malta as part of this planning process and they were given a copy of the preliminary plans. Once the project plans are discussed with all stakeholders, including the applicable environmental and planning authorities, the final plans that will be put forward for the Planning Authority’s decision will also be made available to the public for consultation as per applicable procedure for all new developments.
‘The government is incompetent for not consulting those affected’ - PN
In a statement, Toni Bezzina, Opposition Spokesperson for Transport and Mobility, Infrastructure and Capital Projects, and Edwin Vassallo, Opposition Spokesperson for Strengthening Agriculture and Fisheries, expressed their disappointment with the government for not consulting the farmers whose land is being threatened by this flyover project and expressed their solidarity.
“These farmers were not consulted in the design of the project. This shows the incompetence of Prime Minister Robert Abela’s Government consult with those who will be most affected by the project,” they said. “This is not the first time IM, which Minister Ian Borg is politically responsible for, planned road-opening projects without consultation with anyone.”
They added that residents and local councils can no longer be ignored in the planning of infrastructural projects and called for the government to open consultations immediately before continuing this project.