Flood relief projects have been promised by the government for years but have yet to materialise, the Labour Party pointed out yesterday.
Its criticism follows the government’s announcement that works on the long-awaited national flood relief system are finally due to get under way within the next few weeks.
Addressing a press conference in Msida, three Labour MPs outlined the problems faced by residents who live in fear of rainfall due to the inevitable flooding that follows. Labour’s infrastructure spokesman Charles Buhagiar said promises were made by former Nationalist ministers Michael Falzon and Ninu Zammit as well as the present Resources Minister George Pullicino.
The Nationalist Party also promised to solve the flooding problem in its 2008 electoral manifesto.
Mr Pullicino had said the €56 million project to be funded by the EU would be started in 2010 but, according to his replies to various parliamentary questions, the application for EU funds had not even been sent, let alone approved.
Asked what Labour would do if it were in government, Mr Buhagiar said this was a question of “priorities” and, even if EU funds never materialised, “there are things that can be done” to ensure the project’s completion.
He said Labour would also keep the valleys in the Marsa and Qormi region clean to ensure that the rainfall can be utilised instead of drained to the sea as must happen in areas like Msida and Birkirkara where rainfall is immediately polluted due to urbanisation.
Mr Buhagiar added that the government must also enforce its legal notice on private wells and ensure that rain falling on rooftops does not end up in the drainage system, which further exacerbates the problem.
Meanwhile, the Resources Ministry said that work on the project, consisting of 11 kilometres of underground tunnels, would start this year after a number of years of technical studies.
Only after these studies were done could applications be filed with the planning authority and, now that the permits had been issued, the process of application for EU funds could be completed.