Qui-Si-Sana gym will mean biodiversity loss, says ERA

Malta’s environmental watchdog is objecting to the creation of an outdoor gym in a natural zone right beneath Sliema’s George Bonello Dupuis gardens.

The Environment and Resources Authority said the local council’s proposal for the gym, overlooking the Qui-Si-Sana coastline in a 475sq.m area currently characterised by wild plants, would result in the loss of the natural karstic landscape and fauna.

The council wants to rebuild the belvedere area atop the Bonello Dupuis park in Qui-Si-Sana to install benches and erect a muyral by the late, modern art pioneer Frank Portelli.

The Malta Tourism Authority welcomed the plans, calling it  an improvement to the area but the ERA warned that it will result in the loss of the local fauna. It said that the proposed gym should instead be located within the existing garden.

Earlier his month the council presented new plans which still retain the proposed gym together with a number of green patches enclosed in concrete and in planters. The gym equipment will be erected on rubber flooring.