Residents of Qawra Point were happy to see the area near Fra Ben turned into a national aquarium. This national project was marketed as a ‘Better Quality of Life’ project and was 50 per cent financed by the European Regional Development Fund and national funds.

But neither residents nor the local council expected the aquarium to become an open air beachside night club open from the early afternoon until the early hours of the morning, creating a lot of noise.

On most evenings in spring and summer very loud music is played, causing windows to vibrate up to over a kilometre from Qawra Point.

The organisers advertise that “when the sun goes down, the ambient lounge music will be turned in a mélange of house music”. Other establishments in the area stop playing music at midnight. At midnight the party at Café del Mar is just getting started. The deafening noise makes it impossible for people to go to sleep before 2am.

We do not blame the operators but the department that gave the operator a licence, the same department that ignores residents’ petitions and pleas to monitor the noise to ensure it is kept within the legal limit. This department allowed four days of continual sound pollution over the Good Friday weekend. We are afraid to think what comes next.

Is it not ironic that funds provided by the ERDF came with a ‘Better Quality of Life” banner?