No Marsascala marina before proper impact assessments and consultation, PN says

Government should conduct an impact assessment and consult the residents of Marsascala, local business owners and environmental experts before proceeding with a marina in Marsascala, the Nationalist Party said on Saturday.

The PN said that if it were elected to government it would conduct full environmental and economic impact assessments before considering such developments after consulting residents and business owners to ensure that any development does not result in a net loss for the community.

Party chief spokesperson Peter Agius stated that the project proposed was disproportionate and does not include environmental safeguards.

"No studies were conducted for instance on how the project would affect the currents in the bay with the proposed land reclamation and 700 mooring points potentially leading to water stagnation in the inner parts of the bay," he said.

"Nor has the proposed development considered how the dredging and development would affect the “maghluq” a unique brackish water ecosystem, habitat of the only Maltese brackish water fish: il-Bużaqq.”

John Baptist Camilleri, PN candidate on the third district, said that while investment in the area would attract higher quality tourism in the south, the proposed plans were not well balanced and stakeholders had not been consulted at all.

PN candidate Errol Cutajar also highlighted the lack of regard for the numerous swimming zones in the locality, which are frequented by hundreds of residents, and which would be affected by the development.