Work on a damaged quay in Mġarr ix-Xini, the secluded inlet which rose to fame in 2015 thanks to the film By the Sea, has been halted after a screen preventing sea pollution was damaged.

The quay was in a bad state and in danger of total collapse before works started.

A Gozo Ministry spokesperson said the work was being carried out by Infrastructure Malta in collaboration with the ministry.

Photos that were taken on Wednesday were sent to the ministry showing a crane towering over murky water in the inlet, which is close to Għajnsielem.

“This is the view that met our eyes as we descended upon the usually pristine Mġarr ix-Xini. Shocking is an understatement,” the swimmer who took the photo said. 

Shocking is an understatement

The spokesperson said a silt curtain had been installed but had been damaged over the week by the wind.

Such curtains are used to prevent pollution by silt and disturbed sediment caused by construction activity.

The spokesperson said the curtain was being repaired and the contractor has been instructed not to carry out any works before it was reinstated.

Mġarr ix-Xini acted as the backdrop for Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s  film By the Sea. The site doubled up as a seaside town in France during the mid-1970s.

That same year CNN singled out Mġarr ix-Xini as one of 10 places in the world which should be visited before they change for ever.