Land reclamation could ease pressure off ODZ – Muscat

Real Estate projects involving land reclamation could ease the pressure off construction proposals outside development zones (ODZ), Labour Party Leader Joseph Muscat insisted this morning during a meeting with environmentalists. "The important thing is not to create so many thousands of square meters and then figuring out later what to do with them but rather have a master plan before hand," Dr Muscat said. He was answering questions by The Times on the controversial subject of land reclamation as he received a delegation from the environmental and heritage lobby group Din L-Art Helwa. He dismissed the idea that the Malta Environmental and Planning Authority had given the thumbs down to land reclamation arguing that a report commissioned by the authority had simply questioned the viability of such projects. He said Mepa had reports which showed that projects which included an element of land reclamation could be carried out without harming the environment. But the Authority was facing pressure to keep such reports under wraps and it was therefore saying that such projects were not commercially viable. "We believe that Mepa should not get into questions of economic...