Explanation demanded as Ta' Qali gravel is watered 'under cover of darkness'

Updated 4.22pm with PN comments

Momentum has expressed "deep concern" after a water bowser was seen irrigating the gravel-covered picnic area at Ta' Qali "under cover of darkness".

This incident continues to raise serious questions about the transparency and accountability of the authorities managing the park, the political party said on Tuesday.

On Monday, the party slammed the authorities for refusing to disclose information on how and why gravel was laid on the soil. 

“This latest act, watering gravel at night, suggests desperation and a troubling attempt to mask the environmental damage inflicted on Ta’ Qali,” said Momentum leader Arnold Cassola.

“Instead of engaging with the public and explaining the logic behind this transformation, the authorities are resorting to covert actions that only deepen public mistrust.”

The park, once a vibrant space for families, children, and pet owners, now risks becoming a sterile and unsafe environment, the party said.

The picnic area (centre) covered with gravel.

“Green spaces are not luxuries, they are essential to our well-being, biodiversity, and community life,” Cassola added. 

“The new video evidence shows the area being secretly watered at night, behind everyone’s back and without any transparent explanation. This is not maintenance,  it is damage control done in the dark.

"This attempt to save face by pouring thousands of litres of precious water onto the gravel is beyond embarrassing; it is an insult to every citizen who is urged to conserve. The authorities clearly know the gravel decision was a bad one, and instead of admitting it, they continue to insult the public’s intelligence."

The party said the gravel must be removed, the soil restored, and those responsible held to account.

In a Facebook post yesterday, Żebbuġ mayor Steve Zammit Lupi noted that while grass was starting to sprout across the countryside following three inches of rain last month, this was "not the case at the Ta' Qali picnic area". 

He said environmentalists had a right to complain at the time of the original fuore over the site, stressing "the grass can NEVER grow back as it was".

"It was a big mistake to throw gravel here," he said, while calling on authorities to "remove the gravel, uncover the soil and give it a good shake. Then let nature recover and regenerate without further delay".

'Amateurish'

In a statement, the Opposition Nationalist Party condemned what it described as “amateurish management” of the Ta’ Qali picnic area, while calling for “immediate action” to remedy the situation.

The PN called the overnight watering “a desperate attempt to water the gravel” and called on Jason Micallef to “set aside his arrogance and take steps to restore this area”.

“Robert Abela’s special delegate apparently was not convinced that the rain alone would be enough to grow grass through the layers of gravel that have covered what used to be a natural green carpet”, the party said.

“Instead of heeding legitimate criticism from the public and experts, Micallef has always responded in the only way he knows how – confrontationally and vindictively”.

The PN said grass had “not grown back after the interventions carried out, with the only green patches being those areas left without gravel, where the natural soil remains exposed”.

Photo: PN.

Photo: PN.

Photo: PN.

Calling the Ta’ Qali picnic area “not an isolated case”, the Opposition said it was “emblematic of the Labour Government’s destructive approach to the environment: projects carried out under the pretext of 'improvement', which in practice leave behind only the devastation and destruction of natural spaces and their character”.

Noting that a Planning Authority application for the site, “which includes ‘gravel paths’”, was still at the screening stage, the PN stressed that a decision on the plans had not been made and no public consultation carried out.

The statement was signed by Shadow Environment Minister Rebekah Borg and Shadow Lands Minister Stanley Zammit.