Mr Zammit was speaking during a visit to the Wied il-Ghasel watercourse which runs through Mosta, Burmarrad and Naxxar. He said that the project was in its final stage and all that was left to do was re-plot the watercourse from the fields in Burmarrad to the outlet at Salini.

He said the whole project would cost a total of Lm1 million – part of which is funded by the European Union. The last part of the work will consist of clearing parts of the existing final section of the watercourse and replacing certain elements.

Mr Zammit said certain sections of this final stretch will follow natural land contours, but other parts will have to be built from scratch. “As it is, the watercourse is blocked and it has also been covered by a layer of soil. Over the years, farmers have taken advantage of the situation and turned this area into fields. But, as we saw last year, this has led to the same fields in the same area becoming waterlogged,” he said.

Mr Zammit said the areas that had been cleared had already settled and wildlife such as frogs and other reptiles had already begun to re-populate them.

“The amount of rubbish removed was quite enormous. Of course, over the years various trees and other forms of vegetation had grown and this all had to be removed,” he said.

Mr Zammit said that three catchment areas had also been modernised to allow an improved and slower flow of water. “This means slowing the flow of water into a sort of reservoir, which then empties at the other end. Apart from controlling flow, this also helps refill the groundwater table,” he said.

The Burmarrad “bridge” watercourse underpass had also been worked on, said Mr Zammit, with large quantities of stone being cut away and removed to allow a better flow of water.

The whole section that was cleared ran for a total of 1,150 metres. Two other watercourses – between Bidnija and Mgarr and Annotta valley, with lengths of 1,200 and 1,000 metres respectively, had also been cleared. These two watercourses also eventually end up in Burmarrad and empty into the sea at Salini.

Mr Zammit said that the final result will ensure better stormwater and flood management in the Burmarrad area which takes all the water from the north of Malta. The project accompanies the work which had served so well last week in Qormi and Marsa and he thanked all those involved for their hard work.