Peter Gatt, Durham, UK
Maltese scientists ignored on Għadira beach issue
The Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Communications has recently published on its website the report on the coastal geomorphology of Għadira beach.
The report was produced by a team led by Kenneth Pye that was brought over following the controversial plan to relocate the coast road. The conclusions of this report confirm what Maltese earth scientists (geologists and oceanographers) have been publicly saying for the past two years, that sea-level rise and increased storm activity are the main causes of beach erosion. However, it is only now that the government seems to be rethinking its plans for Għadira. Removing the coast road there will not stop sea-level rise or mitigate beach erosion.
Interestingly, Prof. Pye's report does not support the conclusions of last year's news conference addressed by Minister Austin Gatt and Adrian Mallia, when the latter wrongly claimed that the sand at Għadira is not of marine origin. This misled the minister and the public into believing that the erosion of the beach was caused by the coast road that was supposedly blocking replenishment with land-derived sand.
Last year, the government sadly chose to depend on uninformed opinion while disregarding the advice given by local earth scientists, even though this was just as valid as that presented by foreign geologists a few weeks ago.
Hopefully, this approach will not be repeated for the roads sector which is also part of the mentioned ministry's remit. Indeed, many of the problems relating to the poor quality and limited durability of Maltese roads are a direct result of a poor understanding of surface geology and the use of inadequate aggregate, which remains a poorly regulated local geological resource.
However, we may have to wait a number of years until the government commissions a foreign geologist to tell us exactly that.
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P Attard
Nov 18th 2009, 21:42
I remember someone said that Maltese architects can only design pavements:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090730/local/piano-had-no-written-brief
"If we do not allow ourselves to be persuaded by people of the calibre, experience and reputation of Renzo Piano there is really no use in engaging such an artist for this project and instead commission in-house architects that we employ to draw up the designs of a pavement or a beach-side promenade," the ministry said.
It seems the same mentality reigns throughout!
Simon Cutajar
Nov 18th 2009, 20:28
Missing the grain for the sand..Once again correspondents are asserting for fact the presence of sand on the few beaches that are left in Malta,by implying that sand in whatever form has some how been brought up from the sea and deposited on land,specifically in the case of Malta and Gozo where the ends of all our river valleys and the great (by Maltese standards ) plains of Pwales and Mellieha have created sandy beaches before man's interventions ie. roads and bird sanctuaries.Any one that thinks that we are having more severe storms in the med. has not been comparing the little snippets of info that regularly appear in this paper about facts that happened 50 and 100 years ago, case in point decision by hm government to build the Valletta breakwater. My final conclusion is that all the roads that lie across the sandy beaches that are left should be diverted and the beaches left to mother nature.The Mellieha road is the biggest case in point.If anyone is still in doubt about the origin of sand by rainwater deposits (alluvial) please take a journey to Sicily Scoglietti and imagine how the millions of tons of sand got deposited there!!
lgalea
Nov 18th 2009, 16:01
We are simply being led by persons with a servile colonialist mentality where the foreigner always knows best.
J. Borg
Nov 18th 2009, 10:32
and obviously Austin Gatt will tender his resignation and publicly apologise to the dedicated NGOs who he (and his commrades) took to task........