24 Days Of Sewage: Balluta Bay Closed Off To Swimmers For Almost A Month
It has now been 24 days since Balluta Bay was closed off to swimmers due to drainage contamination.
A sign outside the small but popular beach advises people not to swim and expresses regrets for any inconvenience caused.
PN MP Albert Buttigieg has suggested that the government wants to keep the bay contaminated to strengthen the case that a fast ferry pontoon should be built there.
Plans for a pontoon were scrapped a few years ago due to concerns that it could disrupt swimmers.
“Is this intentional?” Buttigieg asked.
“Does the government want to use drainage contamination as an excuse that the bay isn’t suitable for swimming, which means it can become a fast ferry pontoon?”
“Do some people intend to sneak the fast ferry pontoon in from the window since they couldn’t get it in through the door? Are some people acting as they though they want the bay to reopen when in reality it is in their interest to become a pontoon? I will hold the government responsible for this environmental disaster.”
Besides Balluta Bay, the tal-Għażżenin and Birżebbuġa’s St George Bay were also recently closed off due to sewage contamination, the latter due to someone having chucked a baby nappy in a towel into a manhole.
St George’s Bay in St Julian’s was also recently closed off due to high bacterial counts.
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