Works on The Strand and both sides of the Manoel Island bridge in Gzira contaminated the sea and the air and caused a traffic nightmare today.

A trench was cut across the road from Gzira to the promenade near the bridge, whipping up a dust cloud for most of the day and causing a long traffic jam on the busy road as traffic was diverted to the opposite lane, with primitive signposting. In the morning, motorists driving from Tigne towards Ta' Xbiex were forced to switch to the bus lane with a solitary barricade alerting them at the last minute. 

Meanwhile, the sea near the bridge turned brown as works were carried out on the quay just before the bridge and on Manoel Island. No action appeared to have been taken to contain the debris as it fell into the sea.