Ask anyone of a certain age about the devastation a rainstorm and floods caused at Marsalforn over 42 years ago and they will come up with the same answer.

Rainwater pounding its way into the valley carried along with it agricultural produce, rubbish and other dumped objects into the bay. Cars parked in the watercourse ended up in the sea.

Residents by the valley lived through moments of terror as they were trapped inside their homes.

The following morning the surface in the bay was covered with flotsam and jetsam.

A lesson that must have been learnt from that event was the importance of keeping the valley clear of branches and foliage and other objects that obstruct the watercourse. But a glance today at the same valley, which is popular with many for walks owing to its natural beauty, shows otherwise.

Although government employees are currently engaged in a clean up, it is feared that the concrete paths that cross the watercourse would act as a barrier to the rushing rainwater, leading to flooding. The paths provide farmers and vehicles access to the fields. Bridges across the watercourse would have been more appropriate.

Tons of rubbish and debris, including building material dumped there, are being removed from the valley in preparation for the rainy season.

A Marsalforn resident said that in recent years work had been carried out to remove rubble from the valley bed but in the process the roots of some long-established trees were exposed, endangering them. A suggestion was made to build a retaining wall to protect them.

The resident said a clean valley eases the water flow which, however, is also obstructed by a low bridge in Volcano Street. He explained that when a bridge is too low, objects swept by the current tend to get stuck, with the result that the water spills over onto the street, flooding houses, as had happened in the past.

Apart from the cleaning of the valley, embellishment works have been going on for the past months. In fact, embellishment works at Marsalforn carried out by the Zebbug local council in collaboration with the Malta Tourism Authority were inaugurated by the Prime Minister last Sunday.

Works included the laying of paving in front of various business establishments in Il-Port Street and at Il-Menqa along with tarmac surfacing in part of Il-Port Street and a street lighting system.

Visitors to Marsalforn have noticed the embellishment carried out at the seaside resort but observe that more work is still needed.

Streets such as Ghar Qawqla, Il-Qbajjar, Santa Marija and Il-Mungbel are crying out for a fresh tarmac surface.

The out-of-the-way spacious car park at Marsalforn also needs a clean up and proper parking bays marked out. In was also pointed out to The Times that some years ago an open space at the back of the car park was allocated for the parking of the bulky trailers of fishermen's boats when the boats are at sea. But today that space is littered with rubbish and dried weeds. Instead the trailers occupy space at the small harbour known as Il-Menqa. Some of the trailers can often be noticed parked in front of the boathouses posing an obstacle to boathouse users.

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