Authorities 'pass the buck' over promenade danger

The Senglea local council has appealed to the authorities to stop passing the buck and repair at once a section of the Senglea promenade before the damage spreads.

The Labour Party joined the chorus of protests yesterday calling for the 30-metre stretch to be fixed, after it caved into the water back in December.

The fears are that the road itself, running along the promenade, might be the next to give way.

Messages such as "Fix me up" and "Thalluniex hekk'" (do not leave us in this state) have been scrawled across the damaged area, which happens to be across the bay from the luxury yacht marina in Vittoriosa.

Senglea mayor Joe Casha expressed frustration saying no authority he approached was willing to accept responsibility for the problem.

He said the council had asked the Cottonera project consortium for assistance which duly informed it to take its case to the Maritime Authority. The authority in turn said the government should be dealing with the problem. A meeting between the council and a government official on June 22 was called off, Mr Casha said.

The Senglea council wrote to Competitiveness and Communications Minister Censu Galea about this problem but so far it has only received a mere acknowledgement, the mayor protested.

Apart from posing a danger to passers-by, the mayor warned that once the base of the pier has given way, the sea would keep pounding against the waterfront with the possibility that the road would also cave in.

Mr Casha said the local council would have to forego its budget allocation for seven or eight years to repair the promenade itself. Architects have put the cost of the damage at Lm70,000 or higher - unless the promenade continues to collapse.

Opposition leader Alfred Sant said the neglect of the promenade clearly contradicted the government's statement that it wanted to boost tourism in the three cities.

The Labour leader said Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi should take it upon himself to ensure the damage is repaired with further undue delay. Senglea, after all, was in Dr Gonzi's electoral district, Dr Sant recalled.