The St Julian’s local council was not consulted in the Balluta Bay sand re-nourishment programme, and it was not invited to the inauguration, mayor Albert Buttigieg told The Malta Independent yesterday.

Just last week, Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi re-opened Balluta Bay after the completion of a re-nourishment programme. Just a few days after the inauguration, the sand was washed away by the waves. Alongside Balluta Bay, the country now has an additional three sandy beaches, these being St George’s Bay in Birzebbuġa, Fajtata Bay in Marsascala and Għar L-Aħmar in Marsaxlokk.

Speaking to The Malta Independent, Buttigieg said that if nature itself shows that it is not possible to have a long-lasting sandy beach at Balluta, than it would be more ideal to spend money to improve the surroundings and embellish areas such as the promenade.  “I am aware that the beach project was aimed at enhancing tourism, but tourists do not only enjoy the beach, but also the promenade and the square. If Marriott Hotel (which funded the project) is committed to improve the area, these are other things to take into consideration.”

He explained that the local council did have a say on whether the beach will be open to the general public free of charge, since it is funded by the Marriott Hotel and added that he was happy that the Tourism Minister assured that the beach would not be privatised in any way.

 

Delve into the root of what is causing the sand to wash away:  marine biologist

Speaking to this newspaper, marine biologist Alan Deidun said we need to see what the root of what is causing the sand to wash away from the bay.

“In the past there was once a bay, so one understands why people wish there to be one today. I wish to see what can be done for the project to be successful, and the only viable option is to have a breakwater.”

He explained that the root of the problem is that the environment conditions of the surrounding area are very different and play an important role in the sand re-nourishment of Balluta Bay. ‘Our sand found on Maltese beaches comes from the land, and that most beaches are formed at the mouth of a valley. The connection between the valley and bay in Balluta has been disconnected; therefore it is difficult to have natural sand.”

He added that the concrete artificial walls surrounding the bay also reflect the waves, and instead of dissipating the impact of the wave, only strengthens it. “Whilst rocky natural coastlines act as natural breakwater.”

Deidun explained that a breakwater would help the situation at Balluta Bay, given the exposure of the beach to the Grigal (north-east wind), although this was the most impactful of options given the footprint of seabed it would impinge upon (and the bay still supports seagrass meadows), and that the current option of sourcing sand directly from the same site, mutually agreed between the MTA and the ERA, was the least impactful environmentally, although least likely to succeed from a hydrodynamic point of view, given that such sand as very fine and most likely to be carried away.

Another alternative could be to use heavier, coarser sand sourced outside the bay, but this would have a larger environmental impact if the project were to fail, given that such sand does not currently exist within the bay and thus would be extraneous to it. It’s all a question of reaching a compromise between the degree of environmental impact with the probability of success of any engineering option embarked upon.