End in sight to flooding problems

Employees of the Works Division are widening a watercourse between Aldo Moro Road and Jetties Wharf in Marsa, at the point where storm water flows into the sea after streaming in from the Rabat uplands and running through the entire Qormi area.

At the point where water flows into the canal, just off the main road, is the end of another waterway that was upgraded last year.

"The works are the second phase of the project, which should ease the flooding problems once and for all," Raymond Bugeja, principal public cleansing officer, told The Times yesterday.

The Resources and Infrastructure Ministry completed the first phase, which included the widening of the watercourse alongside the Marsa Sports Club, after heavy flooding in September 2003 revealed the insufficient storm waterway infrastructure in the area.

The waterway between the main road and the sea should be widened to around 15 metres alongside a building that had served as a boys' government school. Once the canal is dug, it will be lined with 138 blocks made up of a resistant concrete mixture over which a limestone retaining wall will be built. The works should be completed by the end of September.