Mosta mayor took personal initiative to uproot trees, activist states

The decision to uproot the Ficus tress in Mosta’s square came from Mosta’s mayor Chris Grech and wasn’t part of the original plans, activist Andre Callus stated.

Speaking on 103 FM’s chat show hosted by Andrew Azzopardi, Movement Graffitti activist Andre Callus spoke about the wider picture surrounding this week’s debacle on a decision to uproot Mosta’s Ficus trees. During activists’ action to prevent the uprooting from happening, Callus himself was carried away by police officers and taken to the police station in handcuffs.

On Saturday, Callus stated that trees’ removal from Mosta’s square was a decision pushed by mayor Chris Grech, stating that the original plans made no mention of the uprooting. 

“All of a sudden without consulting with anyone, the mayor took the personal initiative to uproot the trees,” Callus said, noting that no justification was given.

Callus also stated that the second responsibility for the decision fell on the Environmental and Resources Authority, ERA. “This authority is supposed to be protecting Malta’s environment, but gave the green light for this decision,” the activist explained saying that the trees in question are protected by law.

The process behind the decision’s approval is riddled with problems according to Callus, with the first one being that the public has no say in these decisions similar to what is done with regards to planning applications.

“This case shows that authorities who are supposed to be safeguarding the environment are doing the opposite.” Callus noted that Graffitti’s cry goes beyond this episode, saying that the laws that govern these authorities need to be amended.

“This is a symptom of a wider disease,” activist Omar Rababah affirmed as he was also present on the radio show. 

Later on, planning minister, Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi appeared as a guest on the show, saying that when it comes to similar projects, there should be better communication from the council’s end.

Extension of planning applications

While on the radio show, Zrinzo Azzopardi was also quizzed on government’s quiet extension of planning applications that took place through a legal notice last week.

Moviment Graffitti had since called for the revocation of a legal notice, referring to the move as one which gives blanket amnesty to development. The planning minister stated that there is a distinction between giving amnesty to developments that had no permit and extending the period of development to projects which had not yet been developed.

“There are realities where the five years given for a permit to be implemented were not enough due to certain obstacles,” Zrinzo Azzopardi explained. He attributed the legal notice to giving breathing space for such developments which were already approved to be executed.