The government has not ruled out a second attempt to replenish the sand at Balluta Bay next year, refusing to brand the €110,000 project a failure despite the expanded beach appearing to have shrunk back drastically due to bad weather.
The “experimental” project undertaken by the Tourism Ministry was aimed at restoring the tiny beach by dredging sand from the bay and pumping it ashore. A total of 4,200 cubic metres of sand was brought up from the seabed to create a 20-metre beach with a footprint of 9,000 square metres.
While the larger beach was welcomed, questions were immediately raised as to how long it would last under the assault of rough seas.
The government fended off criticism by saying this was only an “experimental” measure to determine if such an exercise was worth the expense.
Barely a fortnight after it was inaugurated, the first worrying signs started to appear: the beach had already diminished in size by about a metre. After the rough seas of the last few days, it appears to have been whittled down to almost its original size.
Critics have felt vindicated, saying the project was literally a case of throwing taxpayer money down the drain.
On the face of it, it is hard to argue otherwise: the €110,000 beach lasted about 50 days, meaning that while it lasted it cost more than €2,000 a day.
But the Malta Tourism Authority, which oversaw the project, had a much more positive assessment in reply to questions from The Sunday Times of Malta.
The fact that sand is not visible all the time does not mean that most of it has been washed away- MTA
An MTA spokeswoman denied that most of the sand had gone, saying that evidence collected through continuous monitoring indicated that such conclusions were “neither correct nor scientific”.
“The fact that sand is not visible all the time does not mean that most of it has been washed away,” she said.
The MTA said it was too early to discuss the strategy for temporary nourished beaches for next year and was therefore leaving all options open.
“Given the positive feedback, the government will ensure the bay is fully accessible during the summer months and will undertake the necessary interventions to this effect,” the spokeswoman said.