Delays in works on Kalkara’s square have left residents and shop owners patiently waiting as dust and noise flood streets and homes while shops lose customers.

“The work has been going on for two summers and us shops have taken a massive hit,” cafe owner Alex Grech said.

Works on the Kalkara promenade and square began in September 2021 as part of a larger project to create a 4.5-kilometre pedestrian route around Cottonera from Senglea to Bighi.

The corporation leading the Kalkara side of the project, the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation (GHRC) in 2021 said the works would take around 70 weeks to be completed at a cost of €6.5 million.

However, nearly two years later, work continues on the Kalkara centre as residents struggle to understand why they have not yet been completed.

“I have to wash my floor four times to clean it,” one resident said about the dirt and dust.

Another resident who owns a shop near the square explained that workers are present every day, but sometimes their work is less than efficient.

Pointing at a new pavement, she recalled workers having to redo the walking area.

“The dust is everywhere,” resident Franz Caruana said while sipping his morning coffee in front of the unfinished square.

Despite their complaints, most residents agreed that the works are needed and look forward to the new square.

“Once it is ready, it will be beautiful but the problem is they have taken so long,” Grech said.

'The work has been going on for two summers,' says a resident.

COVID, war and sewage

The setbacks are due to several factors, according to the GHRC.

A spokesperson said COVID restrictions led to delays in work while the Ukraine war caused issues with material supplies. However, the biggest setback was the area below the square which provided some unexpected challenges, they said.

Situated opposite the promenade, the square saw a total rehaul of the water, electricity and drainage systems, they said, but the corporation was unable to predict the damage the sea had done to the subbase of the reclaimed land.

“There were studies, but there are always circumstances you don’t have control over,” Kalkara mayor Wayne Aquilina said.

Although workers knew that “floors of pumps” had to be installed beneath the square, they did not expect to find large amounts of drainage that would halt their progress.

Predicting that the project will be completed by the end of 2023, Aquilina said he sympathises with residents but is more focused on the positives the project will bring as the area will now be completely open for residents to walk comfortably through the town centre.

'Workers are present every day, but sometimes their work is less than efficient,' says another resident who owns a shop in the square.

“I do admit it is frustrating, but everyone needs to cooperate,” he said, noting that many residents have complained to the council about their disrupted routines while others thank the council for quadrupling the width of the pavements.

While GHRC has also received complaints about the delays and works, the spokesperson said the justified issues were or are being dealt with.

“As usual, there were a number of unjustified complaints as well as misinformation by some,” the spokesperson said, adding that the village feast still took place this year.

Civil works will be concluded by the end of October while the rest of the works – trees, street lighting and a playground for the square – will be finished by the end of November, the GRHC spokesperson said.

In September, NGO Moviment Graffitti warned that a Transport Malta application to increase the number of berths at the Kalkara yacht marina will effectively mean a total take-over of the creek.

The activist organisation said Transport Malta was planning to extend the Kalkara marina by stealth by increasing the number of moorings and size of boats entering the creek.

The application, PA/06431/20, is still awaiting recommendation from the Planning Authority.