Austin Gatt will oppose Ghadira beach concessions

Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt will oppose any beach concessions relating to Ghadira beach, should the project to build a new road to replace the existing one go ahead.

Dr Gatt told The Sunday Times: "Ghadira is a key element of the Malta tourism product for the entire tourist industry of Malta - not only of the three hotels developed around the beach - and therefore it should be freely accessible for all the tourists and the Maltese who want to enjoy the beach.

"I therefore think there is no reason to change government policy on not having beach concessions on Ghadira beach. This is also why I disagree that the Danish Village's pending application for an exclusive beach concession on Ghadira should be granted... or anybody else's application should one be made for that matter."

This is a more categorical statement from the minister than he made last month during a press conference to announce plans to build a new road. He had said then that applications for beach concessions were not within his jurisdiction and he could therefore not answer reporters' questions on this issue.

Seabank Hotel owner Silvio Debono had said he had no plans to apply for any concessions once the beach was enlarged, though he said that if such a tender was available then "I believe I have every right to apply like everybody else".

Earlier this month, Dr Gatt said the government was considering three options - but all involved building a new road further back from the one that currently runs along the beach. The Malta Environment and Planning Authority will decide which is the most suitable after a full environmental impact assessment is carried out on each of them.

Dr Gatt also said that if the EIAs proved that the project was unsustainable, the government would withdraw the plans.

An environmental consultant engaged by the ministry has said that the existing road is acting as a barrier to the replenishment of the sand on the beach, sustaining the government's fundamental argument for this project.

However, owners of the Danish Village have opposed the project fearing it would harm their business, while Birdlife Malta is insisting on a "proper scientific survey" to prove that the beach is shrinking. Its main objection has been that the new road at the back would cut through a Natura 2000 site, which it also manages.

In a further argument against removing the existing road, Birdlife yesterday said that the high waves seen at Ghadira Bay last Wednesday, a phenomenon known as the 'milghuba' or 'seiche', showed that the eliminating the road could pose a serious threat to the valley and those parts of the Nature Reserve below the sea level.

The head of the Physical Oceanography Unit at the University of Malta, Aldo Drago, told The Sunday Times that the sea in Mellieha rose by nearly a metre last Wednesday, rushing up the beach at Ghadira, almost as far as the road.

He said that due to the shape and configuration of Mellieha Bay, these seiches are known to be quite intense in this area.

"Such strong sea level oscillations are very much like tsunami waves in behaviour, but their origin is completely unrelated to seismic activity," Dr Drago said.