A section of the wooden decking in St Paul’s Bay. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Part of an EU co-funded project completed in 2011 is in a state of disrepair, as decking on a section of the St Paul’s Bay promenade near the Wignacourt tower is falling to pieces.

The wooden decking on the cantilevered belvedere has buckled in several places, posing a danger to pedestrians.

St Paul’s Bay mayor Graziella Galea told this paper that the promenade extension near the Wignacourt tower had suffered various problems for a long time.

The extension forms part of a much larger project extending from Triq San Franġisk (close to the Primary School) up to the Menqa area.

Ms Galea said some months after the project was finished, defects started to appear on both the wooden decking, as well as the lighting system.

She said these defects had been communicated to the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), which was in charge of issuing the tenders and implementing the project.

The mayor said the lighting system had since been completely changed by the MTA.

Ms Galea said localised repairs to the decking had taken place on many occasions over the past months and years.

Localised repairs to the decking had taken place on many occasions

The local council’s architect has been asked to prepare a report about the current state of the balcony in order to solve the problem.

In an added twist, a cave beneath the belvedere has been fenced off after inspections by the Infrastructure Ministry.

Ms Galea said the council had asked for inspections to take place and repairs to be carried out, if necessary, along the entire St Paul’s Bay coastline.

This was being done in order to avoid danger to people and property, she said.

The mayor pointed out that some works were currently being carried out in an area close to the tower, on the other side of the promenade extension, after the Council had flagged the danger in the area.

The Times of Malta reported earlier this month how urgent works have already begun to reinforce a separate section of the St Paul’s Bay promenade, parts of which were barred to the public, amid fears of collapse.

“One has to recall that in this particular area people tend to lay down in the shade, particularly during the summer months, and any potential danger has to be avoided. So, all the necessary actions have to be taken to avoid unwanted mishaps,” Ms Galea said.