Following government’s announcement of a proposal for a metro system with three routes, ADPD – The Green Party Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo commented as follows:

1. We agree that a mass transport system is an urgent necessity, because as we have been insisting all along the expenditure on massive road building is a huge waste of money, because it is not solving mobility and transport issues.
2. The press conference only conveyed scant information, it is clear that government has reports by consultancy firm Arup explaining their proposals in detail. These reports have not been published yet. It is impossible to have a serious public consultation exercise if these reports are not made public. No serious discussion can take place in the absence of this information. The project’s website does not contain detailed information explaining the proposals being made.
3. The basic issue to be considered seriously is whether the proposed mass transport should be mainly above ground or underground due to the huge amount of waste generated, primarily excavation waste.
4. The choice of a practically totally underground metro will inevitably lead to large-scale dumping at sea: forced land reclamation. We disagree with this and large scale dumping at sea should be avoided. All cards should be placed on the table such that the public discussion can also assess the potential for a solution which is as far as possible overground.
5. The choice of a hybrid metro-tram system at street level, on the other hand does not generate the huge amounts of waste that forces us to go for forced land reclamation. It can be implemented in a shorter time frame and is much less costly, apart from causing much less environmental damage.
6. The country needs a clear vision on transport and not a blurred vision. It needs a clear and sustainable way forward.

In view of this it is necessary that government urgently publishes all the reports and studies that have been conducted. To date all we have had are PR stunts and very general information – logos and flashy video clips are not the information we need for a mature discussion. We call for a mature discussion with all the information available for public scrutiny.

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Metro – mingħajr informazzjoni sħiħa ma tistax issir diskussjoni serja

Wara li l-Gvern ħabbar f’konferenza tal-aħbarijiet ftit informazzjoni dwar proposta għal metro fuq tliet rotot, iċ-Chairperson ta’ ADPD – The Green Party Carmel Cacopardo ikkummenta kif ġej:

1. Naqblu li hi meħtieġa b’mod urġenti li titwettaq proposta ta’ transport tal-massa għax kif ilna ngħidu l-infieq li sar u qiegħed isir fuq l-infrastruttura tat-toroq hu essenzjalment ħela ta’ flus għax ma hu se jsolvi xejn.
2. Hu ċar li jeżistu rapporti mill-konsulenti Arup li jispjegaw fid-dettall il-proposti tagħhom. S’issa dawn ir-rapporti għadhom ma ġewx ippubblikati. Mingħajr ma jkunu ppubblikati dawn ir-rapporti, l-konsultazzjoni pubblika li qed issir hi waħda fjakka. Ma tistax issir diskussjoni serja fl-assenza ta’ din l-informazzjoni. Is-sit tal-internet ma fihx l-informazzjoni dettaljata meħtieġa biex ikunu spjegati l-proposti li qed isiru.
3. Il-kwistjoni bażika li trid tkun ikkunsidrata fil-fond hi dwar jekk it-trasport tal-massa propost ikunx  prinċipalment il-fuq mill-art inkella taħt l-art u dan minħabba l-iskart iġġenerat, primarjament blat imqatta’.
4. L-għażla ta’ metro kważi kollha taħt l-art inevitabilment twassal għal radam fil-baħar fuq skala kbira: f’dan il-każ dan ikun reklamazzjoni tal-art sfurzat. Aħna ma naqblux ma dan u jidhrilna li dan għandu jkun evitat. Għandhom jitqegħdu l-karti kollha fuq il-medja biex id-diskussjoni pubblika tkun tista’ tevalwa ukoll il-potenzjal ta’ soluzzjoni li ma tkunx taħt l-art.
5. L-għażla ta’ metro – jeżistu sistemi hybrid metro-tramm – f’livell it-triq min-naħa l-oħra ma tiġġenerax skart li jobbligana li mmorru għal reklamazzjoni tal-art sfurzata, tkun implementata fi żmien iqsar u tiġi tiswa ferm inqas, apparti li tikkawża ferm inqas ħsara ambjentali.
6. Il-pajjiż jeħtieġ viżjoni ċara dwar it-trasport u mhux waħda sfukata u bis-sulluzzu kif il-Gvern ilu jipprova jmexxi ‘l quddiem.

Fid-dawl ta’ dan hu meħtieġ li jkunu ppubblikati b’mod urġenti ir-rapporti u l-istudji kollha li saru u dan għax sa llum ftit li xejn ġiet ippubblikat informazzjoni li tista’ tkun ta’ għajnuna għad-diskussjoni pubblika. Il-logos u l-videos huma ‘PR’, mhux informazzjoni. Ma jistax ikollna diskussjoni matura dwar dawn il-proposti jekk  l-informazzjoni li għandu l-Gvern iżommha għalih u din tibqa’ moħbija mill-iskrutinju pubbliku.