‘Incomplete studies put Balluta sandy beach project in jeopardy’
The sandy beach replenishment at Balluta Bay was bound to fail as not enough studies were carried out to establish whether material dredged from the seabed would serve such purpose, an expert has concluded.
Moreover, he also urged the authorities not to commit the same mistake at Għadira Bay, which has been earmarked for a much larger sand nourishment project.
Geologist Peter Gatt sounded these warnings when asked by the Times of Malta whether he subscribed to criticism that the “experimental” project in Balluta had been money down the drain.
Costing taxpayers €110,000, the sand nourishment project did not even last two months, as most of it was washed away with the first end-of-summer storm.
The project involved pumping 4,200 cubic metres of sand from the seabed to create a 20-metre beach with a footprint of 9,000 square metres.
Despite the beach having shrunk to a small fraction of what it was supposed to be, the government is insisting it is still too early to conclude that the project had failed. Moreover, it is not ruling out having another go next year.
Asked for his views on this, Dr Gatt who is also a qualified sedimentologist, said that decisions on the Balluta Bay sand...