The Editor,
The Times,
St. Paul Street, Valletta.
 
17th March 2006
 

Dear Sir,
 
 
TARMAC CRACKS SCAR NEW HEMSIJA BY PASS.
 
As a native of the area and as Minister for Rural Development I deliberately introduced an environmentally friendly construction system which would have avoided the disaster created on both the Mtarfa and Hemsija By-passes.
 
This scar on both the road works & the environment happened because the Nationalist Government ignored the systems that I introduced and which had resulted in the bringing together of all the environmental experts in the Mediterranean basin. This team had agreed that recommended solutions in these types of environments lie in flexible soil reinforcing systems such as box
gabion construction.
 
Box gabion construction solutions offer respect to
· structural requirements in such environments,
· the hydrological pathways in the area,
· the ecological environment of the area,
· the visual impact of this development on this rural landscape.
· This form of construction was adopted in the design and implementation of
the Wied il-Qlejgha (Chadwick Lakes) project,
 
 
Although ADT under Minister Mugliett has occasionally listened to critics and used rubble walls to border some of the Government's new roads, his team has repeated the mistake of using concrete and stone blocks at Mtarfa By-pass.
These systems that were previously approved by Minister Pullicino and used by Minister Censu Galea, were supposed to have been shelved by Minister Mugliett because he acknowledged Opposition criticism that " such blocks cause
considerable environmental damage, as they divert water flows, crush flora, prevent the passage of fauna, and their weight distorts the strata". Why did this not prevent him doing a complete U-turn and using them on the Mtarfa by-pass .
 
In fact the system used in the new roads creates obstructions whose weight damages the sub strata and which prevent natural water flow, causing destructive water streams. Have these unnecessary errors created the tarmac cracks at Hemsija ?
 
 
As Malta is the most densely populated country in Europe, our sensitivity to the rural environment is of paramount importance. Unfortunately, during the past few years, ADT have undertaken road works in rural environments in practically the same philosophy as that in urban areas.
 
All involved in the field (Malta Environment and Planning Authority, Roads Department, Government Ministers) have resisted recommendations to design such works with systems sensitive to the environment.
· Thanks to ADT, water percolating into the valley bed down the Mtarfa slopes now encounters an inflexible, non porous retaining wall, therefore changing its natural course into a terrain damaging stream.

· The construction solutions sought and currently being implemented on similar ADT sites ignore the priorities of our society today. The Maltese taxpayer has to carry the financial burden of these architectural and engineering mistakes, and the Maltese lovers of rural landscape and tourists alike have to bear this visual scar. Furthermore, Maltese agriculture has to suffer damage to, and erosion of, valuable farming land.
· After consultation with local Maltese engineers and lecturers, it has been made obvious to me that solutions being implemented on these sites are an insult to researchers and modern engineering trends. Environmental considerations are being completely ignored. Economic burdens carried by the project as currently managed are significantly higher than the recommended alternatives.
· It is clear that MEPA, the ADT and the Ministers must be held responsible for allowing the rape of our rural environment.
· Concrete and massive limestone blocks cannot continue to be allowed to cover and destroy the porous landscapes that make up our nation. It is much regretted that Malta keeps losing its place on the sensitivity scale due to ignorance marked by the lack of research and openness to proved solutions.
The factor of greed may also play a large part in this scandal. The factor of government incompetence and confusion definitely does.
 
Now the ADT, the Minister for Roads, and the Minister for Environment have ignored the advice offered by the Opposition and the international experts, resulting in these costly mistakes, who is going to pay? Will it be the long suffering Maltese people, who have to pay for so many mistakes made by the Gonzi government.
 
What is needed is a return to the internationally recommended and renowned box gabion system developed during the administration of the Malta Labour Party, and, of course, the Government reshuffle recommended by Dr. Sant.
 
 
Noel Farrugia, MP, Opposition Spokesperson for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development.