An environmental group has called on the authorities to continue investing in rehabilitating Malta’s valleys.

Labour MP Noel Farrugia, one of the group’s members, said it was a positive step that work had started on the walls and infrastructure in Wied Il-Qlejgha in Chadwick Lakes.

However, it was not enough, he added. Rubble walls in the area – even those that recently underwent maintenance work – were deteriorating.

This situation was “unacceptable and disappointing”.

Joined by independent MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, another member of the group, Mr Farrugia called on the Government to provide more funds for the rehabilitation of valleys in the upcoming Budget.

The Government should work together with local councils to incentivise green economies, Mr Farrugia added.

More courses on how to build rubble walls should be available “so that these won’t be built amateurishly anymore,” he said.

Mr Farrugia and Dr Pullicino Orlando, accompanied by a group of people, held a press conference yesterday on one of the small bridges in Chadwick Lakes, located next to a collapsed rubble wall.

Dr Pullicino Orlando said valleys, such as Wied Il-Qlejgħa, were important because they replenished the water table.

Also, the area was a popular spot among families, especially on Sundays.

“We’re pleased to note that some work has been done since we started putting pressure on the Government. A lot more needs to be done,” he said.

Back in 1996, a valley rehabilitation project had started, which included the installation of box gabions – metal mesh boxes filled with rocks that allow the water to seep through – in the sides of the valley.

“It is a project that was taken up and not completed.

“It falls within my district, so it’s an area that is very close to my heart,” Dr Pullicino Orlando said. Set up earlier this year, the group said it would campaign to raise public awareness about the protection of valleys, improve storm water management, stabilise eroding valley walls and improve public access to valleys.