Government accuses GSD of misrepresenting Eastside project

The Government has accused the GSD of misrepresenting the Eastside project.

It says the designs approved by the DPC do not include a marina arm across the whole of Catalan Bay beach, as confirmed by the placement of a vessel on site.

The Government says the GSD's previous plans for the area were far more intrusive than the current Eastside Project.

It accuses the opposition of also failing to recognise the wider benefits, and the real value of replacing an unsightly rubble mountain with a modern, sustainable, landscaped development.

Contrary to Opposition MP Giovanni Origo's claim that reclamation projects carried out by the GSLP Government 35 years ago were "devastating" -  it says they created the land on which much of modern Gibraltar is built, adding that without them, Gibraltar's economic and social development would have been severely stifled.

Furthermore, is says those reclamations were carried out within harbour waters that were already environmentally degraded, while new revetments created have boosted biodiversity.

The Government says Mr Origo's comments about the delay in removing the rubble mountain are equally misleading, because this has only been the result of rigorous environmental assessments.