St George's beach to be widened in delayed operation

The extension by five metres of St George's Bay, which had been due to take place at the beginning of this week, has been postponed to Monday after the ship transporting sand from the Port of Aqaba, in Jordan, got stuck in the Suez Canal because of bad weather.

The Malta Tourism Authority will be spreading an additional 1,700 tonnes of sand over the newly-created sandy beach at St George's Bay, extending it seaward.

Mario Attard, the MTA's products development director, said when contacted yesterday, that the extension was originally earmarked for completion by the end of May and the sand ordered according to the MTA's detailed specifications had been ready for shipment by the beginning of that month. However, the ship that had to transport it to Malta was damaged and had to be docked, with another ship having to be found. The sand was then due to arrive in Malta between Monday and yesterday but it will now get here probably on Friday.

Mr Attard said the beach would not be closed over the weekend. Work would start on Sunday night and go on throughout Monday. The extension, he said, could be carried out in 24 hours and was intended to widen the beach to the extent permitted by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority in the original development permit.

Sand was being added not because it had been lost but to widen the beach.

Continuous professional surveys showed that sand was not being lost, Mr Attard said.

He said the contractor, Salv Bezzina & Co., will be taking all possible measures to ensure that the operation is carried out within one day.