Government reactivates application for Dingli fireworks depot

The Dingli local council has objected to the reactivation of an application to replace the existing explosives factory with a fireworks depot.

Last November former Justice Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici withdrew the application to build a fireworks depot on Dingli Cliffs.

The Dingli local council had pressured authorities to drop the application, submitted in 2009 to build the depot in the Qaws zone - a Natura 2000 site.

"But to the council's surprise and without any consultation, government has applied for the reactivation of its application," mayor Ian Borg said.

"It is shameful that while the local council is building a Heritage Trail for the public to enjoy, government is proposing to collect the explosives material under one roof."

Architect David Vassallo, on behalf of the local council, has written to MEPA objecting to the development.

Vassallo said that the site forms part of an area of coastal cliffs which is specifically designated as a Special Area of Conservation of International Importance for its ecological and scientific value.

"Various specific legislation and regulations that have been formulated with the scope of protecting the status of such areas, specify clearly that no such development is to be permitted within the boundaries of these sites. Hence, it is very evident that the development being proposed in this application would detract the ecological and scientific values of the site in question and be detrimental to its status as a Special Area of Conservation," Vassallo said.

He said that the proposed use of the site will create a continuous hazard to the residents and farmers who live and work in the surrounding area. "This is unacceptable and the creation of such circumstances is to be avoided at all costs," he said.

Vassallo added that no details have been submitted to the proposed transportation means and routes to and from this site. "It is evident that this will be hugely detrimental to our locality," he said, insisting that the application was highly objectionable and to be dismissed.

Vassallo also said that the government should submit an environmental impact study to analyse the impact this development will have on the area.