[WATCH] Almond trees chopped down for Central Link project were diseased, roads agency chief says

Fredrick Azzopardi defends roads agency's decision to chop down almond trees that should have been transplanted, insisting that the infrastructure authority was faced with two options: either transplant sick trees or replace them with new ones

Almond trees chopped down for Central Link project were diseased, roads agency chief says

Almond trees that were chopped down illegally to make way for the Central Link project were sick, Infrastructure Malta CEO Fredrick Azzopardi said.

A cluster of mature almond trees along the route in the vicinity of the Attard traffic lights had to be transplanted according to the environment permit issued by the Environment and Resource Authority (ERA). However, when works on the project started, the trees were simply chopped down.

Almond trees are protected by law and the maximum fine for uprooting such trees amounts to €2,500 for every tree removed in breach of regulations.

Infrastructure Malta (IM) were obliged to nominate an experienced tree expert 10 days before works had to start. The expert would be monitoring the transplantation of the trees. This did not happen either.

IM were also obliged to inform ERA on the dates of the works seven days prior to their commencement.

Despite the permit conditions, the agency started carrying out works in the absence of supervision by a tree expert and ERA had to intervene to force IM to appoint a tree expert to monitor the works.

Asked about the illegalities perpetrated by Infrastructure Malta, and the bad example it set, Azzopardi insisted on defending the agency's actions: “We had two options, we either transplanted sick trees or we planted new ones, and we chose to do the latter.”

On the appointment of a tree expert, the agency CEO said that despite not appointing one in the timeframe set by ERA, an expert was chosen on the day the project was initiated.

“The 10-day window is set by ERA to determine and investigate the expertise of the selected individual, but in our case the expert had already worked with the environment authority and so his credentials were already known,” Azzopardi said.

Fredrick Azzopardi did not answer on whether Infrastructure Malta would be creating a precedent in not sticking to the parameters set by ERA.

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