There’s an old song which speaks about a convict who writes to his loved one a few days before he is due to be released, asking her to tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree if she would like to have him back. The song has a happy ending because the woman ties not one, but 100 yellow ribbons around the tree to let her partner know that she was welcoming him back with open arms.

Well, no inmate in Malta would risk making such a request after spending time in prison. The reason for this is that too many trees get chopped off to make way for development, in particular the building of new roads. That tree the inmate knew about before serving time is probably no longer there when he is set to be freed from jail.

We use this hyperbole to highlight yet another dispute Infrastructure Malta has been involved in following news that agricultural land will be taken up with the planned building of a new fly-over on the Mriehel bypass, which forms part of Qormi. As has happened in many cases where multiple full-grown trees needed to be removed to make way for the widening of a road – Attard, Santa Lucija, Balzan, Kappara are just a few examples – Infrastructure Malta is being accused again of harming the environment with the excuse that the traffic flow needs to be improved.

This time, farmers owning land in the vicinity of the planned flyover have held a protest to highlight the issue, saying that precious agricultural land will be taken up to make way for this new road connection. The agency has defended itself saying that the project is still in its embryonic stage and is needed for safety purposes.

Even a former President and a former Prime Minister have joined in with their concern. Both Marie Louise Coleiro Preca and Alfred Sant have spoken up, with the former asking whether people in Qormi would continue to lose their open spaces and agricultural land, and the latter saying that we cannot continue with the strategy to widen roads at the expense of fertile land. For his part, Minister Ian Borg said people should look at the blueprints for the project before forming an opinion.

Over the past years, the Labour government has embarked on a long-term project to improve the traffic network. Flyovers and by-passes have been built, other arterial roads have been widened, all to serve to reducing time spent on the road. We have seen many times that this has not resolved traffic issues – because traffic congestion and long queues of cars continue to haunt drivers each time there is a bumper-to-bumper crash or when roads which are supposedly completed are closed again  because, well, they have not been finished.

Most, if not all, of these projects have come with an environmental sacrifice. Malta continues to lose open spaces and agricultural land, in the name of progress and to accommodate the speed required to lead our modern lives.

While one cannot stop evolution and the new needs it brings with it, we should not blindly move on without giving the environment due consideration. We are all entitled to fresh air and open spaces, and let us not forget the essential function of trees in the world we live in.

They provide oxygen, store carbon, provide shade, reduce noise and… also allow ribbons to be tied around them.