Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis rightly notes that culture and heritage are among those aspects that are not being exploited enough in terms of the product being offered to tourists.

A former Labour Cabinet minister once said tourists were attracted to Malta by the sun, the sea and... Dom Mintoff. The former prime minister is no longer with us but the sun and the sea remain and, however attractive the product on offer may be, they are likely to remain a component in this country’s promotion armoury.

It is therefore imperative that Malta’s beaches are improved, embellished with the best possible amenities and kept pristine. This country has been investing handsomely in that direction and the clean waters certificates it is constantly receiving are proof enough.

Malta and Gozo have nine Blue Flag beaches, one Beach of Quality and five managed by the Malta Tourism Authority.

The prestigious international Blue Flag status is awarded to beaches that meet 33 criteria covering environmental education and information, water quality, environmental management and safety and services. The last category demands, among other things, that emergency plans to cope with pollution risks are in place together with safety measures to protect beach users.

A code of conduct drafted by the Maltese authorities lays a lot of stress on safety at beaches managed by the MTA. It can hardly be otherwise because safety is paramount in public places, including beaches.

However, what happened at Pretty Bay in Birżebbuġa over the weekend does not indicate the safety of bathers features topmost on the health authorities’ priority list.

Pretty Bay, it must be pointed out, is not a Blue Flag beach and is unlikely to be given that it is situated in a harbour. It is, however, one that is managed by MTA and quite popular.

Last Friday, the day the beach was closed by the Civil Protection Department because of an oil spill, the Birżebbuġa mayor issued a statement revealing that the cause was an accident that had occurred at the nearby Freeport four days earlier. He said steps were taken, though he did not elaborate.

Birżebbuġa residents and bathers have a right to know what happened during those four days before CPD personnel had to be called in to clean up the bay. More so, why nobody bothered to keep bathers informed about the state of the bay once the clean up operation was over.

People could be seen swimming there on Saturday and again on Sunday and, shamefully, it was only late on Sunday evening – at 6.24pm to be precise – that the environmental health directorate officially declared Pretty Bay would remain closed pending tests.

It declared the bay open on Tuesday through another statement issued at 4.19pm, which also said staff members would be removing signs put up there, though it did not say what sort of signs these were. When Times of Malta visited the beach on Sunday there was no sign to inform bathers that the beach was unfit for swimming.

In this case, the health authorities failed miserably in their duties to safeguard public health by not giving clear advice to the public. Somebody must answer for that and, more importantly, people’s minds should be put at rest that there will not be a repeat.

Whether this turns out to be the case, of course, is a different matter altogether.