The Water Services Corporation ignored questions on the impact high-rise towers would have on the Sliema sewage system because it had “no objections”.
A Planning Authority case officer’s report on the controversial Townsquare project in Qui-si-Sana had pointed out that a request for input had been sent to the corporation a year ago but no answer had ever been received.
The lack of information has been criticised by opponents of the project, who claimed the application process was not being followed correctly.
Asked about this and why no information had been provided, a WSC spokesman said: “I can confirm that the WSC had not replied because, after ensuring that our infrastructure was up to the job, we had no objections to such developments.”
The Times of Malta last month reported that the State utility provider claimed a concentration of high-rise projects in Sliema would not impact the provision of services.
The WSC said it was confident the current infrastructure would be sufficient to deal with increased demand.
There are mathematical models you can run based on the system and the flows expected. These could give an indication of what needs to be done
However, the corporation did not say what studies or analysis had been carried out to back up this claim.
The issue of sewage systems keeping up with high-rise projects was flagged in the case officer’s report. The impact of building a number of projects in a small area like Tigné has been questioned by many, including the former director of the Drainage Department, Philip Grech.
He told the Times of Malta that without a plan of the cumulative effects of such pro-jects, “you are shooting in the dark”.
“On the one hand developers could get blamed for sewage problems which are not their fault. But on the other, they could be building six-star developments supported by a primitive infrastructure. The result would not be good,” Mr Grech had said.
With a detailed understanding of the Sliema sewage network, Mr Grech said the greatest risk such a concentration of large developments could pose could be the creation of what was known as a point load – an excessive burden on a small section of the subterranean sewage network.
“This needs to be looked at in advance, before construction. There are mathematical models you can run based on the system and the flows expected. These could give an indication of what needs to be done,” Mr Grech said.
The Sliema local council and residents have meanwhile complained that the Tigné area was already suffering from sewage blockages and that high-rises would likely overload the system.
A recent injunction filed to freeze the Townsquare towers’ application process was thrown out of court, meaning the process for the approval or rejection of the project will now go ahead.