The effects of fewer deckchairs on Comino need to be considered before any study on Comino’s carrying capacity is carried out, Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo said.

He said that fewer deckchairs around Comino’s Blue Lagoon “automatically” led to less people visiting the island. 

Bartolo said that the tourism ministry has been studying the effect of allowing fewer deck chairs around Comino’s Blue Lagoon.

“Surveys are being conducted at the Blue Lagoon and reports are being conducted almost daily by MTA [Malta Tourism Authority] officials to see what the effects of this [fewer deckchairs] are,” he said.

On Tuesday, Bartolo was asked whether a study on Comino’s carrying capacity was completed or even being conducted seven years after the Environment and Resources Authority recommended the study.

“Before we conduct any study, we have to consider the changes that were made this year,” Bartolo said.

The tourism minister said this year the government reduced the number of deckchairs allowed at the Blue Lagoon to 35 per cent of the original figure.

“Because we reduced the number of deckchairs, we automatically reduced the number of people who visited Blue Lagoon this year.”

He said that cleanliness on Comino has improved and there was “a better overall service” when compared to the past.

“Once we look at these facts, we can see the way forward for the future,” he said.

In August, Nadur Nadif, a volunteer group of young Gozitans who organise clean-ups on Comino during the summer months, urged the authorities to track the tourism flow on Comino as they reported an “alarming” volume of waste on the protected island.

They said that, despite the island being protected under numerous policies, parts of it have fallen victim to “negligence, shabbiness and a lack of enforcement”.

The group said that despite ERA publishing a Natura 2000 management plan for Comino seven years ago, which outlines the importance of having a tourism carrying capacity study for the island, this has not yet been implemented, notwithstanding repeated promises by the tourism minister.