Frustration Erupts At Public Meeting As Pembroke Residents Complain Of Being Taken For A Ride
A tense public meeting between Pembroke residents and the developers behind a proposed 37-storey tower turned into a shouting match as local residents were left frustrated by the developers’ “amended” proposal.
The CEO of db Group Arthur Gauci, as well as the engineer and architect behind the project, presented a number of green initiatives to the 200 or so people in attendance. While they put forward proposals that “encouraged a healthy lifestyle” as well as traffic mitigation, streamlining and sewage control ideas, residents were not satisfied and continued to show their opposition to the tower.
“We want to create a harmonised development with the local community,” said the CEO during the presentation. “It is not in anyone’s interests to create something which will harm the locality or Malta – rather we aim to raise the bar in terms of quantitative development on the island for the benefit of future generations.”
However, residents didn’t seem mollified by his statement
A sensitive issue arose when discussing the tunnel that had been put forward in db Group’s environmental impact assessment report. An earlier Environment and Resources Authority report commissioned by db Group had recommended a tunnel be built to mitigate the pollution levels from all the new cars coming to the area.
The new tunnel would begin near the ITS site, circle around Pembroke, and exit on the Regional Road. However, while the report recommended it, and it was mentioned in the impact assessment report, there was no official approval for the tunnel, and residents questioned how they could include the beneficial aspects of the tunnel in their impact assessment report when it was neither approved nor really planned.
This caused some residents and activists to see red
One local resident made his feelings clear: “I’ve never spoken like this before, but the tremors I feel when I see how you are taking us for a ride in this meeting, I’ve never felt in my life.”
An activist who was in the room explained why the tunnel was such an issue for them.
“They do not have the plans right now, it is literally a ghost tunnel,” said Eric Castillo, a member of Moviment Graffiti, to Lovin Malta. “No-one has any idea if it will be done or not – and of course, if they are going to build a tunnel, it will come at a cost from the taxpayer since it’s a public investment.”
Eric also pointed out that the study mentions the cars the new development will attract to the area, but doesn’t take into consideration the additional cars that will be attracted by the nearby Mercury Tower and Villa Rosa developments.
Proposed green spaces
A still from the shading assessment
Other attempts at reconciliation by the developers were met with laughter
The developers said they wanted to build a batching plant to make cement on-site, saying it would minimise trips needed by trucks going back and forth, and emphasised that the batching plant will not spread dust because it will be contained.
“Can you tell me how a batching plant will not create dust when I end up polluting my whole apartment when I go to install an air conditioner?” one resident shouted back.
They also said they would provide hotel employees with a bus service, to minimise traffic. This was criticised as something nearly every hotel in Malta does anyway.
Another proposal was to incentivise workers to use bikes to come to work. They would offer rentable bikes, create bike lanes, and even offer showers to workers who come to work on a bike.
“There’s two camps here – one wants good quality of life, the other wants hundreds of millions of euros,” said Robert Louis Fenech, who was in the meeting.
“Unfortunately, these are mutually exclusive in this case. Malta must now decide whether we’re willing to sacrifice our brothers and sisters at the altar of db Group Chairman Silvio Debono’s greed. However – the appetite of Debono and those of his ilk is large. What’s the guarantee they’ll be happy with burying Pembroke alive? The rest of Malta is on the chopping block too – we’re just further from the knife,” he said.
The 37-storey residential tower is set to feature a 17-storey Hard Rock Hotel featuring 455 rooms, a casino and a shopping mall. The developers have also pledged to install 30 electric vehicle charging points as well as employ a dedicated PR person to communicate regularly with residents.
The residents, along with representatives of the Pembroke, Swieqi, and St Julians councils, Moviment Graffiti, Kamp Emergenza Ambjent, Friends Of The Earth, FAA, and Din L-Art Helwa, will be organising a demonstration near the site on Wednesday 16th May, at 6pm. The demonstration will show attendees around the areas that will be affected by the development.
What do you think of the proposed development?
READ NEXT: After Successful Townsquare Appeal, Activists Turn To Pembroke For Next Environmental Win
