Azzjoni Nazzjonali said yesterday that most of the improvements proposed for Marsamxett Harbour had been presented to impress people with misleading propaganda paid for by our taxes.

But envisaging a breakwater at the harbour entrance is simply not feasible, the party said.

There have been two studies by two separate foreign consultants into the possibility of building a breakwater in Marsamxett. One was commissioned by the Maltese Government in 1968 and carried out by G. Maunsell & Partners of London, who specialise in this type of maritime activity. This company built a model of the harbour known as “hydraulic model investigation” and reported that the sea was so deep that if a breakwater were to be built, the expense would be phenomenal.

The second report, commissioned by the Malta Development Corporation in 1990, was carried out by yet another English company specialising in maritime activities, Hydraulic Research of Wallingford. This company used a computerised model for its study. It found that, because the water is more than 30 metres deep, the breakwater’s foundations would have to be so large that they would encroach on each other in such a way that there would be no water circulation inside the harbour. Also, the expense would be so exorbitant that it would not justify any benefits.

Defects in proposed Government plan

The breakwater arms are so open, that the strong seas from the northeast would still engulf the harbour and thus the various proposals suggested by the Government would prove to be useless.

The cost of constructing the two quays for cruise liners, at more than EUR80 million, is exorbitant and such a sum could never be justified.

Having two quays for cruise liners do not make any sense. The breakwater in the harbour and the artist’s impression shown in the propaganda leaflets are definitely misleading. A computer superimposition made the cruise liners look more like Gozo ferries or super yachts. This type of cruise liner is so huge that they are much higher than the Valletta bastions and not as shown. In reality, these enormous liners take so much space that they have no place to manoeuvre. They are longer than the width of the entry into the harbour!

The same applies to the pontoons for the yacht marina on the Tigné side. These pontoons are so open to rough seas, that the first big storm would sink all the yachts and boats. Furthermore, without any doubt, no cruise liner would be able to manoeuvre with yachts berthed there.

Azzjoni Nazzjonali proposes a number of local breakwaters that would still permit other activities, apart from the cruise liners and the pontoons near the harbour entrance.

A local breakwater would be constructed on the internal part of Tigné and the other part on Manoel Island. This would shelter Sliema creek.

A local breakwater on the other side of Manoel Island will protect Lazaretto Creek.

A local breakwater would be built in the Hay Wharf area. At Ta’ Xbiex point, blocks of concrete known at tetra pots will be placed along the existing local breakwater in order to break the internal waves. These are known as “spending beaches”.