Residents, farmers and activists write to ministers asking for intervention on Dingli road

Moviment Graffitti questioned necessity of Dingli road since no action was ever taken to build it since first mooted in 1998

On Friday, Moviment Graffitti had halted rural road works by Infrastructure Malta, who they said allegedly started building a road on farmland in Daħla tas-Sienja, in Dingli without any permits
On Friday, Moviment Graffitti had halted rural road works by Infrastructure Malta, who they said allegedly started building a road on farmland in Daħla tas-Sienja, in Dingli without any permits

Residents, farmers and activists have written to the ministers of the environment, transport and culture, requesting immediate intervention to stop the construction of a planned road on fields in Dingli.

Moviment Graffitti said that an urgent request was also made to the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and the Executive Council of the Planning Authority, to issue an Emergency Conservation Order for the Late Medieval church of Santa Duminka and its surroundings in Dingli.

“These requests follow the direct action carried out last Friday in Dingli, where Infrastructure Malta turned up with heavy machinery and no warning in its quest to build a road on private fields,” the NGO said.

In the letter to the ministers, Graffitti asked whether the road was necessary since it had been planed since 1998, but no action had ever been taken to build the road in questions.

Now, Moviment Graffitti said there appeared to be sudden urgency, so much so that Infrastructure Malta had decided to send workers and machinery to the site without following the formal process of officially notifying all the relevant landowners, who will be severely impacted by these works since the road would directly cut across their arable fields.

The Late Medieval church of Santa Duminka and its surroundings in Dingli
The Late Medieval church of Santa Duminka and its surroundings in Dingli

On Friday, Moviment Graffitti had halted rural road works by Infrastructure Malta (IM), who they said allegedly started building a road on farmland in Daħla tas-Sienja, in Dingli without any permits.

However, IM had told this paper that no development permits are required for the formation of new roads within development zones that are already included as schemed – planned – roads in the Planning Authority’s local plans, as is the case for the new street between Dahla tas-Sienja and Sqaq il-MUSEUM.

“Besides destroying a site of great archaeological importance, the road in question would also be highly detrimental to the livelihood of several of these farmers, who currently till the land and grow crops, and who have owned this land for many years. Moreover, the water reservoirs that currently provide much-needed water to irrigate these arable fields are in jeopardy due to this development,” the NGO said.

Moviment Graffitti said the building of this road would create pressure for more development in the ODZ areas surrounding proposed road, as there have already been applications for residences on ODZ in that exact area.