The Ghajn tal-Hasselin area in Msida has long been prone to heavy flooding. However, after the second world war and, more emphatically, in the late Seventies and early Eighties, the problem was aggravated by a number of factors:

1. The sea in front of the Msida parish church and leading up to Palm Square was backfilled with wartime debris and rubble.

2. The construction of major arterial roads (mainly the Regional Road) with surface water run-off leading directly to this low-lying flat area.

3. The construction of various new buildings on the ridges at Birkirkara, St Venera and Msida also contributed to an increase in surface water run-off from land which had hitherto consisted of open fields.

4. The absence of any form of damp proofing in the buildings in Valley Road and Conception Street. This is because most of the buildings were over 100 years old.

In the early 1980s a number of projects were started, mainly to relieve the plight of residents who were regularly suffering the effects of flooding in heavy rains. A number of soak-away reservoirs were built in the area near Panta House, the culvert leading off Ghajn tal-Hasselin was cleaned and widened, and a particularly dilapidated corner house in Conception Street/Valley Road was demolished and reconstructed.

This consisted of a housing unit and an underlying shop. Moreover, thresholds of various premises on both sides of Valley Road and Conception Street in the Ghajn tal-Hasselin area were raised.

In the early 1990s, despite these measures, the area was still prone to heavy flooding and the residents' plight worsened. Although the thresholds had been raised by one or two courses in most places, this was not enough to prevent internal flooding of homes, with water levels reaching one metre or even more in particularly heavy storms. Most of the buildings in the area are not only very old but also lack a damp-proofing membrane.

A flood relief project was started by Government. As part of the plan the buildings between Valley Road and Conception Street (in the vicinity of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Chapel) were to be demolished and the area developed as a public garden. The first part of the project was completed by 1994.

In 1994 works were taken in hand by the Department of Housing Construction and Maintenance in the first phase of the Slum Clearance project programme. A project was planned in three phases:

1. Phase I comprising 158-164 Valley Road, 64-70 Conception Street would produce 36 units and four shops.

2. Phase II comprising 12-28 Valley Road, 7-22 Garcin Street would produce 28 units and eight shops, 14 garages and one sub-station.

3. Phase III comprising 167-192 Valley Road, 1-5 Menqa Square, 5-62 Conception Street would produce 37 units and 21 shops. The new local council premises were also included in the drawings. This part of the project replaced the planned public garden mentioned above.

Works on Phase I of the project were taken in hand in March 1994 and the first 24 units were completed by September 1996. However part of the project was suspended for six months following the discovery of very deep foundations in part of the site. This led to a separate tender having to be issued for the remaining 12 units, which were completed in September 1998.

Co-ordination with Roads Department

By early 2002, the remaining evictees from Phase III had been provided with alternative accommodation and discussions were being held with the remaining occupants of commercial premises (particularly a public-hire garage) so that remaining buildings could be demolished.

Discussions were also held at Ministerial level with the Roads Department and Transport ministries with the view of co-ordinating works as the Transport Ministry intended to resume work on the flood relief project.

Following such discussions it was agreed that a service road would be constructed in front of the new buildings. The latter would be built on a setback alignment and thus occupy a smaller area than the buildings to be demolished. The road levels and alignments were established by the Roads Department and works on the next Phase of the project could proceed following the completion of Phase I.

Construction of Phase IIIa

The first of the two blocks within Phase III (now being referred to as Phase IIIA) was to be built on the site which had been demolished by the Works Division in 1994.

Works on this block were taken in hand in April 2002 and were practically completed by this January. The services for the new block, which comprises 16 dwelling units and four shops, are expected to be provided in the next few months with the first residents moving in by summer.

It has been decided that these units will probably be reserved for evictees from Phase V. They will not be allocated by lot but by direct allocation based on the gravity of the problems in the evictees' current residences.

Construction of Phase IIIb

The second block within the project, comprising 42 units, 13 shops, one sub-station, one public service garage and four offices, was taken in hand in mid-2002. The existing buildings were demolished in June 2002 and construction works were taken in hand by September of that year.

As a result of these works, the most dilapidated area of Msida has been finally demolished, including the single unit and shop constructed in 1982-1983.

Works on the project have proceeded apace and 65 per cent of the structure has been completed to date. Some minor changes were made to the plans in 2003 to include some one-bedroom units for the evictees from Phase V.

As a result of these changes, the project now comprises an additional three units. The block is scheduled for completion by the end of this year and the first residents should be moving in by mid-2005.

Ms Micallef Leyson is chairman of the Housing Authority