Updated | Rabat road tree 'destruction' to be debated in parliamentary committee

Updated at 6.30pm

Jason Azzopardi announced his initiative in Facebook

Jason Azzopardi has asked Parliament's environment committee to discuss the uprooting of trees along the road between Attard and Rabat in the wake of mounting controversy over the number of mature trees that will be lost as part of a proposed road upgrade project.

The Nationalist Party's environment spokesperson called the project an "unprecedented tree destruction proposal" after initial plans submitted by the government showed that some 200 mature trees will be removed from the section of the road between Attard and the roundabout at the foot of Saqqajja Hill.

Azzopardi's request was accepted later in the day and committee chairperson Alex Muscat, a Labour MP, put down the discussion on the agenda for the meeting that will be held on 2 July. 

The Transport Ministry on Saturday said revised plans would see the creation of a centre strip that would reduce the number of trees that have to be cut down. The road upgrade project was announced last month and forms part of what the government is calling as the Central Link. It foresees the widening of roads between the Mrieħel bypass and the roundabout at the foot of Saqqajja Hill, as well as the creation of a new bypass in Attard.

News of the tree destruction caused furore on social media and an online petition to save the mature trees had more than 3,000 signatures by Monday morning.

READ ALSO: AD slam Central Link project, say government is ignoring its own Master Plan