Health blames WSC for sewage outflow

The Water Services Corporation and the Health Department cannot see eye to eye on the sewage outflow in parts of Sliema and St Julians and will be battling the matter out in court today.

The department has proceeded with legal action against the corporation because it feels it is to blame for the problem. However, the corporation is insisting that a system failure occurred in private sewer connections and it could not carry out repairs in such cases.

In the meantime, Balluta Bay and Fond Ghadir have been unfit for swimming after the department issued health warning notices on August 13 and last Tuesday.

Health inspector manager John Attard Kingswell confirmed that samples from Balluta Bay showed high levels of faecal contamination, which resulted in the closure of the bathing site. Fond Ghadir was closed on Monday.

Balluta Bay should reopen for swimming today after recent samples indicated that the contamination has been brought under control. Follow-up sampling will continue.

Contacted yesterday a corporation spokesman said the WSC was responsible for collecting sewage from all premises, treating it and disposing of it. However, this responsibility stopped in front of the household or building and any fault that occurred within the premises was not its job to repair.

"If, for example, a household has a cesspit and this overflows, it's not our fault and the owner is responsible for fixing the problem," he explained.

The corporation could carry out more thorough investigations than the department, he added, through the use of close-circuit cameras and other techniques. In this case we have established it's not our fault," the spokesman insisted.