Building of sewage station in Għarb to start next month

The construction of the long promised sewage pumping station in Għarb should start next month, though no indication of when it will start operating has been given.

Wied il-Mielaħ, in Għarb, is the only remaining sewage outfall in Gozo pumping raw drainage into the sea. The other three were closed off when a high-tech sewage plant opened last year.

In January 2008, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi inaugurated a €7.2 million sewage treatment plant in Gozo at Ras il-Hobż, which replaced three of the four outfalls in San Blas, Wied l-Għasri and Mġarr ix-Xini.

However, Għarb remained unconnected. The Water Services Corporation plans to build a pumping station that will transfer the sewage to the treatment plant, corporation CEO Marc Muscat has said.

The full development permit was approved on Tuesday, a corporation spokesman said yesterday.

The smelly situation has been highlighted by environmental organisations and residents for a number of years. The picturesque valley is under the Ta' Pinu Sanctuary and extends along a 2.3-kilometre stretch towards the coastal cliffs on the western part of Gozo.

On Thursday a huge brown patch of sewage was seen stretching in the sea below the rocky structure, drifting towards popular Gozitan beaches.

Għarb mayor David Apap said the council and residents had been aware of the problem for many years but added there was not much they could do.

"We are waiting for the work on the pumping station to start," he said.

The patch of sewage was worse than usual because the population in Gozo increases in summer, Mr Apap said.

Wied il-Mielaħ was one of the first places to benefit from EU structural funds after the Għarb council managed to obtain €145,000 for a restoration and storm water project.

EU Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Hubner also visited the valley during a two-day visit in 2006 and unveiled a marble plaque set in the stone wall.

The project included the construction of rubble walls and bridges, cleaning of the valley basin and resurfacing of the road leading to the valley in order to make it more accessible.

Despite these projects the problem of drainage remains.

Timeline

• March 1998: Then Prime Minister Alfred Sant announces that the sewage plant in Gozo will be reviewed to eventually close the sewage outfall at San Blas and Wied il-Mielaħ.

• March 2004: Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono gives details of a national sewage master plan, which includes a treatment plant at Ras il-Ħobż. Half the cost will be EU-funded.

• May 2004: Call for tenders for the Gozo sewage plant issued.

• March 2005: Application for outline development permit filed to construct pumping station at Wied il-Mielaħ.

• May 2005: Investments Minister Austin Gatt says in Parliament work on the Gozo plant is expected to start as soon as the planning authority gives go ahead. Dr Gatt says the plant should be ready by the end of 2006.

• June 2006: EU Commission says it is sending Malta a reasoned opinion over what it called discriminatory criteria in awarding the Water Services Corporation contract for the Malta and Gozo sewage plan.

• August 2006: The outline development permit for the pumping station is approved.

• October 2006: Application for a full development permit is filed.

• January 2008: Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi inaugurates the €7.2 million sewage plant at Ras il-Ħobż, which replaces three of the four existing outfalls. He says Wied il-Mielaħ will be connected soon.

• August 2009: The planning authority approves the full development permit for the pumping station.