The Freeport in Birżebbuġa has its advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages is encouraging trade between countries. As Malta is in the middle of the Mediterranean it is convenient for trading companies to deposit containers in Malta to be collected by other ships. This generates income for Malta.

Sheridan Balzan and Iris-Elia Vassallo.Sheridan Balzan and Iris-Elia Vassallo.

Some disadvantages are the air, sea and sound pollution it gene­rates. It is an eyesore, a large area of countryside was taken over to build the Freeport, and the swimming zone at the adjacent Pretty Bay – one of the few sandy beaches in the south of Malta – was reduced.

During a recent visit to the site, we asked residents, cafe owners, tourists, bus drivers and fishermen for their views on the Freeport.

People who live there said the Freeport was really noisy and that Pretty Bay was not pretty at all, with ships spilling oil in the sea. They believed the Freeport was keeping tourists away but admitted it was a positive asset for the economy.

Owners of cafeterias said the Freeport did not affect them as Maltese people, including Freeport workers, buy food from their outlets. But bus drivers said the Freeport had had a big effect on tourism.

Tourists said they still swam there in summer, that oil spills did not bother them and the noise did not keep them from sleeping. But they do not like the look of the place.

Fishermen did not have any posi­tive comments about the Freeport. They said the noise is always increasing and that there was no life left in the waters of Marsaxlokk Bay. They wished another place could be found for the Freeport.

We interviewed a person who works at the Freeport and he said the company was doing all it could to reduce the inconvenience. The machines of the cranes had been changed to be quieter and the lights now have covers to reduce the glare. There were also signs everywhere asking workers not to make noise.

Since our visit, it was announced that the local council would receive funds to compensate for damage caused by the Freeport and that its cranes were to be adjusted to make even less noise.

The authors are Form 2.1 students at St Ignatius College Ħandaq Girls Secondary School participating in Young Reporters for the Envi­ronment, a programme of the Foundation for Environmental Edu­­­ca­tion, run locally by Nature Trust (Malta).

www.yremalta.org

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