Mqabba tarmac plant application formally withdrawn

Plans for an asphalt plant just 500 metres away from people’s homes in Mqabba have been scrapped, a letter to the Planning Authority from the applicant’s architect has confirmed.

The letter comes on the same day that PN local council candidates issued a statement calling on Prime Minister Robert Abela to stay true to a statement in May that the tarmac and concrete plant – earmarked for land outside the development zone in the area between Mqabba and Qrendi – would not be carried out.

“To date this application is still active and therefore, subject to issuing the necessary permits to actually start operating in the vicinity of these villages,” the Qrendi and Mqabba candidates claimed.

However, the Planning Authority registered the letter of withdrawal from the project architect on 4 June.

“Residents of Mqabba and Qrendi want reassurance… this application must be withdrawn immediately and before the elections on 8 June. Failing this, Robert Abela’s promise would only be futile before the election,” the candidates said, saying they would be upholding residents’ interests in ensuring their localities do not serve as bases for such plants.

Abela had stated back in May in Żurrieq that INDIS had ensured alternative land for the  plant not to be built in Mqabba.

The issue concerns plans submitted to the Planning Authority last year for the relocation of the BIP Ltd tarmac plant from Ħal Far to a disused quarry in Mqabba, relatively close to residential areas.

The issue had sparked controversy last November, when residents of Qrendi, Mqabba, Żurrieq, Kirkop and Siġġiewi took to the streets in protest, saying the relocation was “madness” and expressing concern over the impact the plant would have on their long-term health.

The local councils of Qrendi, Mqabba, Safi, Rabat, Żurrieq, Kirkop and Siġġiewi had also declared they were against the plant’s relocation, and so did ADPD, describing the move as “ill-placed”, along with the PN.