Environmental Protection Department shoots down Smart City road

The development of a road linking Smart City and Bieb is-Sultan in Zabbar, long considered to be of vital importance to the ITC project, has been shot down by The Malta Environment and Planning Authority's environmental arm.

MEPA's Environmental Protection Directorate declared that it is not in a position to recommend the approval of a road, which would split the Tal-Fata agricultural area in Zabbar and result in the loss of 15,000 square meters of prime agricultural land.

But the greatest concern is that the approval of this particular road would prejudice future development in the area, making the approval of other roads inevitable.

An Environment Impact Study had already warned that absence of the road linking Ricasoli and Tal-Barrani could increase congestion and compound air quality issues in Fgura.

The new road was described as a "total disaster" for the residents of Fgura if the link road is not extended up to Tal-Barrani, a social impact study by sociologist Mario Vassallo concluded.

This is because the estimated 23,000 daily car trips solely generated by the Smart City project will have to pass directly from an already polluted and congested Fgura

The report called on MEPA not to issue a permit for the new link road unless a "strong and verifiable commitment" commitment is taken to "radically" shorten the time frame for the development of the Tal-Barrani link road.

On its part, the Directorate now says the proposed road is just one segment of a much more extensive project that also envisages additional link roads and other modifications to the highway. The impact of these changes still has to be assessed.

But the ad hoc development of the Bieb is-Sultan to Santu Rokku segment may end up making these other modifications to the network, which have not yet been subjected to the required assessment processes inevitable.

The EPD laments that presently there is no indication of the impacts that the road development linking Smart City to Tal-Barrani, will have on the site and its surroundings.

"It should be stressed that this is not covered by the current EIA; however the EIA Coordinator is suggesting commitments that in themselves would be premature in the absence of a major EIA update or a separate EIA for the development as a whole."

The proposed road was defined as a 'missing link' of the current road network since it will provide a direct link in the southern part of the Grand Harbour, in particular to the Smart City site, and a by-pass access to Kalkara.