MEPA heritage committee opposing four-lane carriageway
The construction of a new road, part of the EU-funded Ten-T network, might destroy fertile land in the area of il-Wileg, on the Salini Road in Burmarrad, l-orrizont reports.
The road project forms part of a widening effort to increase the dual carriageway to a four-lane thoroughfare, from the English cemetery at Pembroke through to the St Paul’s Bay roundabout, in the area know as Erba’ Mwiezeb.
The project has previously attracted criticism by the Natural Heritage Panel (NHAC). The NHAC says the project will absorb a considerable piece of agricultural land that lies in a Natura 2000 site – an EU-protected area. “Transport Malta, the applicant, has provided no justification for the widening of the road. The Coast Road has only just been upgraded and the committee feels that other roads are eligible for improvement works,” the NHAC said.
The area is a marshland which includes a historical wall built by the Knights of the Order of St John, known as Ta-Vjatiku, which is used as a dam against overflowing water. According to the NHAC, a medicinal herb – the horsetail – grows in this area.
