The Ficus trees close to the Mosta square which were found with holes in their trunks some weeks ago have a “good chance” of surviving, activists who met with the Environment & Resources Authority said on Friday.

Members of the NGO Moviment Graffitti, which was the first to highlight what had happened to the trees, met officials from the ERA on Friday morning near the Ficus trees in question.

In this meeting, the NGO said that it was updated on the case they had brought up three weeks ago when they discovered a number of holes in the tree trunks filled with a liquid.

They added that last November, Moviment Graffitti and Mosta residents had stopped the uprooting of these same Ficus trees as the local council had planned revamping the square.

The NGO said that the ERA cleaned the holes of the liquid and filled them with an appropriate material. It added that the ERA is envisaging that shortly all the Ficus trees in the square will start being watered regularly via an irrigation system or with water on the spot.

The NGO said that it had been told that “there is a good chance the trees will survive” and that despite burnt branches, the trees appear to be alive with new branches trying to sprout.

It said that ERA explained that investigations are underway from their end as well the as by the police in order to try and understand who made the holes and caused harm to the Ficus trees. It added that the entities are examining long hours of CCTV footage, following up on information they received and testing to identify the liquid that was poured into the holes.

The NGO went on to thank the ERA officials for their update and the care they provided to the trees.

Moviment Graffitti reiterated their commitment to continue following this issue “closely” so that the Mosta residents’ wishes that the trees remain an essential part of the square will be respected.

Anyone with any information to share about this case, even anonymously, may call ERA on 2292 3500.