The Malta Tourism Authority has been involved in beach replenishment and beach management projects since 2004. Two artificial beaches have been created in St George's Bay and the Bugibba Perched Beach in St Paul's Bay. Both projects have proved to be popular with the public and have provided a much-needed beach facility as part of our tourism product.
It is normal practice that artificial beaches require periodic maintenance. For the past months, the MTA has been making the necessary arrangements for the procurement of more sand from the same source as the one originally procured. This is important to maintain the same characteristics of the material.
The sand is in the process of being brought over to Malta to be placed on the respective beaches. This process has a limited time window during which it may occur during the year - May being the right month between the stormy wintry months and the busy summer months.
The vessel carrying the sand is preparing to sail from Aqaba in Jordan to Malta and is expected to arrive next week - between the 19th and the 21st of May. The unloading operation, delivery and spreading of the sand will be carried out immediately upon the vessel's arrival in Malta, depending on the weather conditions.
The works in Bugibba are expected to be carried out first between Wednesday, 20th May and Saturday 23rd May - and at St. George's Bay, St. Julian's between Monday, 25th May and Friday, 29th May. In this regard the above mentioned beaches shall be closed to the public during the sand levelling operation.
In order to ensure the necessary road safety requirements, the roads being used for the discharge of the sand from trucks in both Bugibba Perched Beach (Part of Dawret il-Gzejjer) and St George's Bay (Triq ix-Xatt ta' San Gorg) have to be closed to traffic. It is also expected that works will also be carried out throughout the night to ensure a faster completion and the least possible inconvenience to the general public.
The MTA would like to thank the general public for their co-operation and would like to apologise for any inconvenience that may be caused during the operation.