The St Paul’s Bay local council says it has nothing to do with the works, which are the responsibility of the central Government. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

Concrete repair works on a slipway in Qawra, a short distance from the main hotels in the region, yesterday ended up polluting an adjacent bathing area.

Aerial photos of the site show a trail of construction debris floating down the coast in front of the lido of the Suncrest Hotel.

A sign on the site says the work is being carried out by the local council. However, when contacted, St Paul’s Bay mayor Mario Salerno said the council had nothing to do with the works, which are actually repairs being done by the Works Department on the slipway.

The quay was damaged in a storm during the winter and remained unrepaired for months on end.

“The work is actually well overdue because there had been many complaints about the damaged quay but it is not we who are carrying out the work. The coast is the responsibility of the central Government,” Mr Salerno said.

Attempts to contact the department yesterday afternoon were unsuccessful.

The Times sent pictures of the spill to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa), which in turn sent enforcement officers to the site.

After the inspection, a spokesman for the authority said the works had been stopped, adding that from initial investi-gations it appeared the repairs were not covered by a permit.

When the authority allows such works it usually imposes the use of a screen to contain any debris from spilling into the water.

The work is taking place only a short distance from the site of another case of sea pollution that took place in August last year.

The local council had ordered the dumping at sea of a mound of silt that had been removed from a Qawra inlet towards the end of August.

The debris was then excavated back from the sea and taken to a site on land following an outcry from bathers and residents.

Mepa had pinned the blame on the council, accusing it of acting illegally without the necessary authorisation.

However, the council had said it was the authority which ordered that the silt should be thrown back into the sea, arguing that the bathing area where it was dumped was the only available space.