Malta was hit by freak floods a year ago yesterday, wreaking havoc throughout the island but particularly in the Marsa, Qormi and Burmarrad areas. Pictures of cars washed away by the water and houses filled with rainwater packed the newspapers as the worst hit roads were turned to rivers.

The storm caused millions of liri in damages to roads, fields, property and cars.

The incident sparked political controversy as the MLP said that the floods could have been avoided if the government implemented the rainwater strategy that the Labour government had drawn up.

The government eventually compiled a report on the matter and applied for compensation under the EU solidarity funds. The work on the watercourses at Marsa is complete and the ones at Burmarrad are also set to cater for heavy rainfalls, although more work is needed to connect them to Salina bay, as they were some 30 years ago before they were abandoned and left to fill with rubble and debris.

The work cost some Lm1 million, of which the EU funded Lm450,000. However the question now looms, “Will they do the trick this time round?”

Both in Marsa and Burmarrad, watercourses and the channels connected to them were cleaned up and in most parts widened as well.

Most of the channels and the surrounding valleys were not cleaned for many years. These included Wied il-Kbir, Wied ic-Cawsli, Wied Qirda, Wied Xkora and Wied l-Isqof.

At Marsa, new retaining walls were built in the traditional sloping style. The bed of the canal was laid with concrete to help the water flow through faster and also allow maintenance. The seabed at Jetties Wharf in Marsa, where the rainwater exits into the sea, was dredged to further facilitate the water flow.

At Burmarrad a number of dams were built, intended to hold water that will then seep into the aquifer beneath. Next year the watercourse will be connected to the channel surrounding the Salina Bay salt-pans.

Early this week, a team from the Works Department, responsible for the Marsa courses, was called on-site to remove a mound of tyres and rubble that was illegally dumped in part of the channels. The mound could have had a negative effect on the water flow through the channel, neutralising some of the measures taken for the water to gush faster, a Works Department official told The Malta Independent.

Malta was hit by freak floods a year ago yesterday, wreaking havoc throughout the island but particularly in the Marsa, Qormi and Burmarrad areas. Pictures of cars washed away by the water and houses filled with rainwater packed the newspapers as the worst hit roads were turned to rivers.

The storm caused millions of liri in damages to roads, fields, property and cars.

The incident sparked political controversy as the MLP said that the floods could have been avoided if the government implemented the rainwater strategy that the Labour government had drawn up.

The government eventually compiled a report on the matter and applied for compensation under the EU solidarity funds. The work on the watercourses at Marsa is complete and the ones at Burmarrad are also set to cater for heavy rainfalls, although more work is needed to connect them to Salina bay, as they were some 30 years ago before they were abandoned and left to fill with rubble and debris.

The work cost some Lm1 million, of which the EU funded Lm450,000. However the question now looms, “Will they do the trick this time round?”

Both in Marsa and Burmarrad, watercourses and the channels connected to them were cleaned up and in most parts widened as well.

Most of the channels and the surrounding valleys were not cleaned for many years. These included Wied il-Kbir, Wied ic-Cawsli, Wied Qirda, Wied Xkora and Wied l-Isqof.

At Marsa, new retaining walls were built in the traditional sloping style. The bed of the canal was laid with concrete to help the water flow through faster and also allow maintenance. The seabed at Jetties Wharf in Marsa, where the rainwater exits into the sea, was dredged to further facilitate the water flow.

At Burmarrad a number of dams were built, intended to hold water that will then seep into the aquifer beneath. Next year the watercourse will be connected to the channel surrounding the Salina Bay salt-pans.

Early this week, a team from the Works Department, responsible for the Marsa courses, was called on-site to remove a mound of tyres and rubble that was illegally dumped in part of the channels. The mound could have had a negative effect on the water flow through the channel, neutralising some of the measures taken for the water to gush faster, a Works Department official told The Malta Independent.