[WATCH] Final revised Mdina Road plans to be issued next week, Ian Borg says

Ian Borg on final plans for Mdina Road

The final new plan for the Mdina Road project, which was previously highly criticised for the removal of a large number of trees which it would require, should be issued next week, Ian Borg said.

The Transport Minister said the controversy surrounding the project had to do with the stretch of road from the Our Lady of Victories chapel, to Rabat. “I later confirmed that only three trees would be uprooted in this area,” he said, “Ideally, I’d wish that  no trees would be affected, but three trees are certainly much less than the 200 or so which speculative reports said would be removed.”

Following public uproar on the proposed uprooting of a large number of mature Aleppo pine trees along the Rabat road, a government spokesperson had told MaltaToday in June that only 15 trees would be removed as part of a road-widening project.

“The new set of plans for the road are being improved, and we hope to have the final version by next week, after which they can be validated by Transport Malta, the Infrastructure Directorate and the Planning Authority,” Borg said, when asked for an update on the project today.

“The PA will then launch the necessary consultation process, and will afterwards decide what type of permit to issue. Implementation of the project will follow,” he said.

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The project’s procurement is at an advanced stage, and a number of differently priced offers were submitted following the call for proposals, the minister noted, highlighting that there would now be strong competition, between the interested contractors, to win the project.

“In the meantime, we are convinced this project, which has been sitting on the shelf for around 30 years, is needed,” Borg remarked, “I am not scared to take decisions, even if they are not popular ones. We need to think not only of today’s challenges, but also of what the future's requirements will be."