Dead trees along Saqqajja Hill to be replaced

The stumps of dead trees along Saqqajja Hill will be removed by Infrastructure Malta and replaced by Aleppo Pines, the Transport Minister has announced.

Ian Borg said in a Facebook post that 61 new trees will be planted alongside existing trees on the iconic hill leading to Rabat.

61 new trees will replace the dead trees

The move can be interpreted as Infrastructure Malta’s way of addressing some of the anger levelled towards it over the Central Link project that will result in the uprooting of trees in Attard.

The Central Link project connects the roundabout at the foot of Saqqajja Hill with the Mrieħel bypass, providing smoother traffic flow in Attard. However, the project will entail the loss of agricultural land and several trees, although the plans include the planting of hundreds of new trees along the route.

Saqqajja Hill was never part of the project, a fact pointed out by Borg as he took a dig at the Nationalist Party that came out against the Central Link project.

“The PN tried to deceive and stoke fear by peddling a lie that we are going to remove the trees along Saqqajja Hill. We never had this in mind. For many years, every time a tree died or was removed in this road, nobody bothered to replace it,” Borg said.

The roads agency will now be replacing these dead trees with Aleppo Pines that adapt well to Malta’s climate and soil conditions.

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