Infrastructure Malta has informed this newspaper that an illegal concrete dam that is blocking the watercourse at Wied Qirda, on the outskirts of Zebbug, will finally be removed.

The Malta Independent on Sunday has flagged the illegality of this structure on multiple occasions, including last year, when Infrastructure Malta laid tarmac over the dam.

The concrete dam, constructed to provide access to two residences on the right-hand-side bank of the valley, was built in the mid-2000s. In 2007 it was was the subject of an enforcement order which has since been withdrawn, despite the fact that the blockage persists to this very day.

In late 2018, Infrastructure Malta laid tarmac over the road running parallel to the valley as part of a project to improve the rural roads in the area. However, eyebrows were raised when the work was extended to include the illegal dam.

Around two months later, a large chunk of the road parallel to the valley bed collapsed. It is clear that that the water trapped behind the dam had found a way around the huge concrete mass, eroding the soil underneath the road in the process and thus causing the collapse.

The damaged part of the road was cordoned off by metal barriers, with the damage remaining unrepaired for almost a year – finally beginning around August of this year.

Huge limestone slabs have been placed against the side of the valley in a bid to strengthen the foundations of the road, and most of the rubble caused by the collapse has been removed.

The concrete dam, however, still stands. In addition, because the work was not completed before the first storms, the area has become what could be described as a submerged construction site, with both sides of the dam becoming flooded with stagnant water.

To this day, the dam is preventing large volumes of rainwater from running down into the valley, which reaches as far as Qormi and Hal Farrug.

 

Enforcement order withdrawn

The dam had been subject to an enforcement order issued in 2007, but last year the Planning Authority said that the Order was being withdrawn in view of the fact that some form of access/bridge has existed at the site since before 1968.

A former resident of the area, however, insisted that no such access existed before 2007, and that residents had had to drive down one bank and up the other in order to access the properties.

It is also pertinent to note that, despite the Planning Authority announcing in January that the enforcement order had been withdrawn, it still appears on the PA website as ‘pending direct action’.

According to the case file, the illegality consists of “the depositing and levelling of concrete on the valley bed to form a road which is obstructing the natural course of the water, and this in an area of special conservation and national importance.”

The ‘unknown occupier’, the Commissioner of Lands and the Works Department are listed as the contraveners.

Sources pointed out that even if some previous form of access had existed, as the PA is claiming, they could not understand how an enforcement order issued against an illegal mass of concrete dumped smack in the middle of a valley could be withdrawn. The sources said that such an enforcement order should only be withdrawn once the concrete has been removed and replaced by a more environmentally-friendly form of access – such as a bridge.

 

Bridge could replace concrete dam

Questions sent to the Environment Ministry have remained unanswered, but Infrastructure Malta told this newsroom that the illegal structure will be removed once the road has been repaired.

A spokesman said that the ongoing work on the road in question is required to repair the part of the road that has collapsed. As part of the first phase of this work, the agency’s contractors are building a reinforced road foundation which will reduce the risk of further damage in the future.

Once the road has been repaired, the spokesman continued, Infrastructure Malta will begin the second phase of the work, including the removal of the nearby crossing over the valley watercourse and the reinstatement of the area to facilitate the water flow and the regeneration of this part of Wied Qirda. He said that the agency is working to finish the work as soon as possible, hopefully by early next year. When the structural work has been completed, Infrastructure Malta will build new rubble walls along the stretch of road being repaired.

Asked how the occupants of the two residences will be able to access their properties, and who would be paying for any structure built for this purpose, Infrastructure Malta said it is “discussing this matter with the Environment and Resources Authority to implement a sustainable alternative to the indicated access, which has existed as part of the adjacent public road for decades. This alternative can take the form of a narrow bridge structure, which would still allow the natural flow of water through the valley without hindering the regeneration of its ecosystem.”