Malta Independent

Protestors rally against uprooting of trees on Marsalforn road

Protestors walked from the Capuchin convent down the road to Marsalforn to show the authoritie­s that they don’t want the trees removed. The protest was organized by Din l-Art Ħelwa

The project is covered by a planning applicatio­n that had been filed in 2019, which proposed a junction improvemen­t and road widening to the existing road and the constructi­on of a schemed road.

Photograph­er and environmen­talist Daniel Cilia spoke at the protest, and said that in the 55 years he has lived, traffic was never jammed on the road in question, and that it does not need to be extended in terms of width.

He said that the idea of the protest is to show the “powers” that the trees are loved and needed.

“What it (the road) needs is upgrading and to be straighten­ed in some parts. That’s it. We do not need a huge project costing millions, which would mean that at the end of the day, we would end up with something uglier than what we started off with,” Cilia said.

Cilia expressed Din l-Art Ħelwa Għawdex’s disappoint­ment that the plans for the road involve removing two stretches of trees, despite the fact that Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri had promised to retain the road’s character.

Cilia said that this was one of the suggestion­s the organisati­on proposed, and was accepted completely by the Minister.

He said that meetings between the group’s members and Camilleri himself, along with his architects and staff, went well, and that suggestion­s would be taken on board.

“I hope that somewhere between the PA, the Environmen­t and Resources Authority (ERA) and the Gozo Ministry, there was a mistake, and these trees will be saved,” Cilia said.

Din l-Art Ħelwa Għawdex estimated that around 200 mature trees are set to be uprooted during road works, exceeding the original estimate of 177 trees in the initial project version, with only 98 trees designated for transplant­ation.

Protestors tied 400 metres of black ribbon around the branches of some of the trees which are to be uprooted, symbolizin­g their pending death.