The Water Services Corporation is seeking legal advice about whether it will seek damages from a person who installed a faulty waste water connection that led to the closure of Qawra bay.
The bay was closed for four days at the end of August after a “badly installed” private waste water connection led to a drainage overflow into the sea between Ta’ Fra Ben and Qawra Palace Hotel in Buġibba.
When asked whether the WSC would hold the third party legally responsible, a corporation spokesman said: “Our lawyers are looking into it.”
The spokesman explained that the corporation identified the person who had installed the connection, for which a permit was required. “Permits are issued by Transport Malta because one must dig up the road to connect to our pipes,” the spokesman said.
However, he could not say whether the third party had the necessary permit to install the connection because it would have been issued by Transport Malta. Questions sent to the transport regulator were not forthcoming at the time of writing.
The bay was closed to bathers on August 26 after it was contaminated by sewage that had overflowed from the road. It was declared safe for swimming on August 31.
The authorities were alerted to the spill after waste was seen flowing past two boathouses into the sea, the WSC said. Using remote closed-circuit television apparatus, waste water technicians looked for the stoppage and discovered that a private connection had blocked the flow of the main, causing the blockage.
Situated in Tourists Street, it was caused by a “badly installed” connection by “unknown third parties without the proper hardware or necessary expertise on waste water private connections”, the WSC had said.
That same afternoon, the Environmental Health Department put up signs around the area informing bathers the water was unsafe for swimming.