Activists halt uprooting of mature ficus trees in Mosta square

Moviment Graffitti urged people to join them, and called for another protest in front of the local council’s offices on Wednesday at 18:30.

On Monday morning, 12 ficus trees were “pruned” and prepared for transplantation due to the ongoing embellishment works around the Rotunda.

Moviment Graffitti’s Andre Callus, who grew up in Mosta, emphasised that it was not too late for the council to turn back.

“The trees are still here, and even if their branches have been ripped off, they can grow again”, he said.

Callus also said that residents were shocked as no one knew about the uprooting.

Transplantation plans kept hidden

It was only on Monday that Mosta’s local council and the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) declared publicly that they approved the massacre.

Design renderings by Studjurban presented to the public in August did not show any alterations to the trees and their immediate surroundings.

Update 17:00 | Studjurban emphasised that it “disassociates itself completely from this decision”.

The architecture firm explained that the trees and their immediate surroundings did not fall within the area of its project.

“At no point did we recommend the removal of these trees which provided a small green lung to the square”, it said.

‘We have had enough’

ADPD leader Sandra Gauci said she was worried that more greenery will be removed while ‘concrete parks’ will be presented as green areas.

Joining the activists in Mosta, Gauci expressed her disappointment, urging the government to keep the citizens in mind “because we have had enough”.

‘Each tree is protected’

The Malta Ranger Unit has also condemned the decision by ERA to allow the destruction of the decades-old ficus trees.

It said that each of those large trees is protected as per the Trees and Woodland Protection Regulations of 2018.

However, the law enabled authorities to allow any protected tree to be destroyed or transplanted – in many cases dying in the process.

Projects should be planned around protected trees, and there should be no possibility for side-stepping, the organisation said.