A number of Qormi residents yesterday took to the streets to protest about the flooding problem in Qormi valley, which was set to become more pronounced with the onset of the rainy season.

Labour MP Marie Louie Coleiro, who joined the protest, said the reservoirs surrounding the valley, which were supposed to fill with rain water, had not been cleaned for years. They were full of mud and rubbish, and could therefore not take much water.

As a result, too much rainwater would spill onto the main road and surrounding junctions.

The reservoirs could not be cleaned once the rains started so this work should have been done in summer.

But the residents' repeated pleas were falling on deaf ears, she said. They were not asking for anything out of the ordinary - only for their welfare to be seen to by the government.

Ms Coleiro also spoke about a drainage problem in the valley, with residents and farms in the area still using cesspits which were not regularly emptied and sometimes overflowed into the street.

The residents also called for traffic calming measures including pelican lights and the removal of two bridges which they claimed served no function.

They said the bridges were only useful to watch fireworks from at festa time and to attach billboards to.

Although they were supposed to be used for crossing the road when it rained, they were not utilised because they started from the middle of the road instead of stretching from one end to the other.

According to a study carried out by the council, an average of 6,000 cars used the area daily and the road was also widely used by pedestrians.

But the traffic authorities had told the council that pelican lights could not be set up because there would be the danger of electric shock when the valley filled with water after the rains.

But residents argued that there were pelican lights at Birkirkara and Msida even though there was a similar flooding problem.