Work has started on the replacement of roofs at the dressing rooms and the plant room of the national pool in Tal-Qroqq.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Sports, Chris Agius, visited the site this morning and regretted that the works had not been taken in hand earlier.

The ceilings have been propped up with supports for the past few months. The ceilings are made of pre-stressed concrete, which was found to be overloaded.

Mr Agius said the works would also tackle a water seepage problem first identified in 1995, two years after the pool was built. The seepage comes from the showers.

He said the €800,000 project will also see the number of dressing rooms increased to eight from six.

The project, managed by the Malta Sports Council, will also see improvements to the stands.