Soldiers will descend on Mġiebaħ Bay next Tuesday for a much awaited clean-up of the picturesque sandy beach, according to the Infrastructure Ministry.

The secluded beach nuzzled below Selmun missed out on the annual seaweed clean-up at the start of summer because not all the algae in the bay washed ashore. It is impossible for trucks to reach it and an army patrol boat will be used.

The postponed cleaning operation left the beach covered in seaweed and prompted many complaints from bathers and the Mellieħa council.

The seaweed will be collected in bags and will be transported by dinghies onto a patrol boat

Mellieħa mayor John Buttigieg had told Times of Malta that if nature did not oblige, summer could very well have ended before the beach was cleaned.

However, it seems that after this newspaper highlighted the matter his exhortation will be answered.

A ministry spokeswoman yesterday confirmed that the cleansing directorate in collaboration with the Armed Forces of Malta will be involved in an early-morning clean-up at Mġiebaħ Bay on Tuesday.

“The seaweed will be collected in bags and will be transported by dinghies on to a patrol boat. It will then be taken to Xemxija where the bags will be loaded on to the directorate’s vehicles,” she said. Mġiebaħ cannot be reached by heavy vehicles.

A similar phenomenon in which huge amounts of seaweed remained deposited in the sea at the same location happened two years ago.