Roads minister did not tell agency to ignore Wied Qirda stop order

A complaint by the independent candidate Arnold Cassola accusing transport minister of unauthorised works at Wied Qirda was thrown out by the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life.

The Commissioner said there was nothing to indicate that Borg had ordered Infrastructure Malta to defy a stop-and-compliance order issued by the Environment and Resources Authority, to proceed with works without a permit in Wied Qirda, Ħaż-Żebbuġ.

The Standards Commissioner came to this conclusion after considering a complaint presented by Prof. Arnold Cassola in November 2019 against Borg and Frederick Azzopardi, Chief Executive Officer of Infrastructure Malta.

“The complaint against Azzopardi could not be investigated since he was not subject to the Standards in Public Life Act. For this reason the Commissioner only investigated Minister Ian Borg,” his office said in a statement.

The Commissioner found that it was true that works in Wied Qirda had taken place without a permit, and that a stop order issued by the Environment and Resources Authority had not been observed straight away. This was confirmed by the Authority itself.

However, there was no indication that Minister Borg had given orders for the works to continue.

The Commissioner observed that the Environment and Resources Authority had intervened promptly and in a professional manner, and later on it reached an agreement with Infrastructure Malta about a methodology for the works to continue in a manner that would avoid damage to the valley environment. The Commissioner therefore did not uphold Prof Cassola’s complaint.”

The environment authority was monitoring ongoing roadworks in the Qirda valley by Infrastructure Malta, the roads agency, after its stop order was ignored.

The ERA and Infrastructure Malta clarified that the roadworks were necessary because parts of the rural road collapsed and these are being monitored by the authority.

ERA said the purpose of its stop order was not to stop emergency works that are permissible at law but to ensure that any other works followed an approved method statement. “Infrastructure Malta is collaborating with the authority at every stage of this infrastructural investment to ensure that the necessary emergency works are done in the most sensitive way possible,” the roads agency had said.

The agency said that once the necessary repair works are completed, it will contribute to the valley’s regeneration by carrying out all the interventions requested by ERA.

Parts of the rural road collapsed as a result of stormy weather. The agency had to reconstruct the foundations of the road and replace an existing pathway that crossed the valley.

Infrastructure Malta said the pathway was built years ago above a dam that obstructed the valley’s natural water course.

The agency and ERA said that the removal of the dam and reconstruction of a bridge would help regeneration in this part of Wied Qirda.