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Infrastructure Malta Pushes Back Against Graffitti’s Claims: They Were The Ones Who Refused Meeting

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Infrastructure Malta has denied accusations by Moviment Graffitti that it has refused to consult with the public on its plans to construct a new road over a plot of arable land in Dingli.

The national infrastructure agency said that it had continued to meet members of the public that had gotten in touch with it in recent weeks, and had continued to make improvements to its plans as a result.

The site, which connects Il-MUSEUM Alley, Daħla tas-Sienja Street and San Gwann Bosco Street, in Dingli, has been occupied by activists for over a week now.

They claim that Infrastructure Malta is going ahead with plans for the roads, despite not having the necessary permits, a claim that has been denied by both Infrastructure Malta and the Planning Authority.

On Thursday, Graffitti called for a public consultation with authorities – an invitation they said would only be accepted if it took place in the presence of members of the public. The civil society group accused Infrastructure Malta of closing the door to dialogue and of “abusing its power”.

“Following the press conference by Moviment Graffitti on Thursday (last week), Infrastructure Malta immediately sent a written invitation to Graffitti to a technical meeting the following day, where the agency’s architects would have been able to answer the organisation’s questions, including their concern that the new road will be built on land in an outside development zone, an allegation that the Planning Authority has already categorically denied.

“For some reason, Moviment Graffitti did not accept this invitation. On Friday, Infrastructure Malta once again wrote to the organisation, extending its invitation for a technical meeting, at a date and time convenient to the same organisation. This invitation remains open,” Infrastructure Malta said.

Infrastructure Malta said that it had held talks with “representatives of all individuals and entities concerned with the development of the new schemed road”.

Discussions with residents, it said, had continued with more scheduled to take place this week.

“Thanks to these discussions, on Thursday Infrastructure Malta announced it had accepted all requests for improvements to the new road plans made by residents of San Gwann Bosco Street. It has also reached expropriation agreements with the landowners of all parts of the new road where works are underway,” a spokesperson for the agency said.

What do you make of Infrastructure Malta’s reply?

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Yannick joined Lovin Malta in March 2021 having started out in journalism in 2016. He is passionate about politics and the way our society is governed, and anything to do with numbers and graphs. He likes dogs more than he does people.

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