The Malta Tourism Authority sees no immediate need to take action to prevent people from walking across the iconic Azure Window in Gozo, despite the danger it poses, The Sunday Times of Malta has been told.
Asked whether it felt it should take immediate preventive measures, given that the window, to which thousands of tourists flock every day, risks collapsing, a spokesman for the authority said it was on the newly-formed committee for Dwejra and that it would “not be pursuing any independent initiatives”.
The San Lawrenz local council has long been calling for help to stop tourists and locals from climbing up onto the actual window, given the dangers.
In 2013, a geological assessment by the Environment Ministry found that it was not facing imminent collapse but more erosion was inevitable.
It was on the newly-formed committee and would not be pursuing any independent initiatives
In recent months, however, there have been increasing fears that the structure could collapse as it is eroding at a rapid pace. The council has professional advice that it is unsafe.
In June, the Times of Malta reported that the council had complained it did not have the resources to stop people from walking across the window. To add insult to injury, the council was left out of the new steering committee set up by the government to manage the Dwejra area in Gozo.
The MTA is, however, a member on this steering committee and feels that the initiatives to keep people away from the window should be taken collectively as a committee rather than by the authority independently.
“The MTA forms part of the new committee which was set up and at this point in time the MTA shall be discussing the issues relating to the Azure Window within this committee and shall not be pursuing any independent initiatives,” an authority spokesman said when asked whether any action was going to be taken to have the area cordoned off.
The eight-member committee includes the MTA, the Gozo Ministry, environment NGOs and a representative of the Malta Hotel and Restaurants Association.
A similar steering committee had already been formed in 2007, only to be dismantled in 2012. The San Lawrenz council formed part of the committee at the time but it was never reconstituted.
Already included in the EU’s Natura 2000 network, the area is struggling to cope with the strain of the influx of visitors.
When this newspaper visited the area yesterday, a handful of people were walking over the window – it may be that the large warning signs that have been placed on site are deterring tourists.