Second phase to be carried out from seaward side

The contractor in charge of works at St Julian's promenade between Neptune's and Balluta waterpolo pitches had so far not carried out any work from the seaward side because the water was too shallow for seacraft, Ray Farrugia, director of building and engineering at the ministry of resources and infrastructure said yesterday.

Mr Farrugia was reacting to an article in Tuesday's The Times dealing with the widening of the promenade in St Julian's.

Architect Patrick Griscti Soler, head of the ministry's marine section, said that phase II of the project entrusted to Mangion Brothers would be carried out from the seaward side because now that land reclamation had been completed the water was deep enough to make such work possible. Working from the landward side would damage the promenade now.

"The depth of the sea after the building of the belvederes is enough to permit the safe use of floating craft as had been clearly envisaged in the contract document," Mr Griscti Soler said.

In Tuesday's article, Joseph Zammit, a director of VPJ Ltd, a company supplying marine craft for construction works, had said it felt let down by the contractor who widened the promenade between the two waterpolo pitches.

Mr Zammit maintained that throughout the tendering phase, Mangion Brothers Zurrieq Ltd - which was awarded the tender for the construction of the seawall and platform between Neptune's and Balluta pitches - had given VPJ Ltd reason to believe it would be subcontracted to carry out works on the seaward side.

VPJ Ltd claimed it was not contacted by Mangion Brothers even though the project was nearing completion.

The conditions to carry out works from the sea were meant to cause the least inconvenience possible to the public, Mr Zammit said.

Mr Farrugia explained that Mangion Brothers had so far finished phase I of the task they were contracted for. He said Resources and Infrastructure Minister Francis Zammit Dimech had asked him for full details about the work carried out so far between the two pitches after the minister saw the article in The Times.

Carmel Mangion, of Mangion Brothers, said the work carried out by his firm so far included the platforms at sea to serve as a base for the belvederes.

The next phase to be undertaken by Mangion Brothers would be the building of a seawall stretching from under the belvederes up to Neptune's pitch.

Public works in tourist areas have to stop by the end of June and start again in October in accordance with a memo issued by the ministry of tourism.

Weather permitting, the building of the seawall would start in October, using seacraft, Mr Mangion said.

Asked what he meant by "weather permitting", Mr Mangion said the works would have to stop in the case of inclement weather.

The ministry had commissioned an environment impact assessment from a British company to see what effect the waves would have once land had been reclaimed.

"The seawall will be built primarily to safeguard that part of Neptune's pitch which would otherwise be heavily buffeted by heavy seas and in order to minimise the erosion of the sandy beach at Balluta through the new wave pattern following the widening of the promenade," Mr Grixti Soler said.

In Tuesday's article, Mr Zammit had said that tender conditions stipulated that floating craft were to be used during the project and bidders had to specify the number of seacraft they intended to use.

He had pointed out that the tender document referred to the upper road as a main thoroughfare and that no cranes were to be allowed to operate from the road.

Other works to be carried out by the ministry of resources and infrastructure included the widening of the pavement from Neptune's pitch up to Barracuda restaurant.

The steps at Balluta Bay are scheduled by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and, therefore, no intervention was permissible.

Works scheduled to be carried out by ministry personnel from Barracuda downwards and beyond the Carmelite church would be done using marine craft, Mr Farrugia said.

The widening of the St Julian's promenade had been in the pipeline for the past 15 years but it had been repeatedly shelved because of the problems and difficulties it presented, he said.