The newly embellished St George's Bay has received very good reviews in the month it has been open to the public after a major revamp.

With 3.5 tonnes of Jordanian sand costing over Lm500,000, the aim is to make St George's Bay the first Blue Flag beach on the island. The Blue Flag is a scheme started in the European Union and which is now being extended also to non-member states.

The chairman of the Malta Tourism Authority's product planning and development directorate, Romwald Lungaro-Mifsud, said the beach will be assessed over a period of two years before being awarded Blue Flag status.

For the beach to adhere to the Blue Flag criteria, the MTA has set out a code of conduct aiming for beach cleanliness, safety for bathers as well as comfort.

By the time the project is completed before next summer, the beach will include showers and toilets, a catering establishment and a tower for lifesavers, among other amenities.

To ensure that the beach is kept in the best state possible, a manager is present during the day and security personnel take over at night.

In line with the provisions of the new code of conduct no barbecues, campfires, amplified music, pitching of tents, dogs or overnight sleeping will be allowed.

Asked whether not allowing dogs on the beach was necessary and whether it would have been easier to enforce a regulation that pet owners should clean up their pets' mess, Mr Lungaro-Mifsud said this would not be enough. "When dogs soil the sand, this could be detrimental to the health of beach users. It is not enough to pick it up. People are going to lie down on that sand, sometimes face down, and there could be a danger to their health," he said.

He added that the "rule" was set out in the Blue Flag criteria and was not something dreamt of by the MTA.

Another initiative was putting up bins where waste could be separated while reusable receptacles for cigarette butts were handed out to smokers.

"Toxins from cigarette butts are emitted an hour from their disposal and it takes about 12 years for filters to disintegrate. They could also cause death to marine creatures if these try to ingest them," he said.

The water was being assessed on a regular basis to monitor quality.

Mr Lungaro-Mifsud explained that the MTA was encouraging the public to contact the authorities if they observed anybody breaching the code. Notices with contact numbers have been put up for this purpose.

Asked whether people would be charged for the use of services like showers and toilets, Mr Lungaro-Mifsud said this year the MTA was footing all the costs.

The use of public toilets would remain free after this year and, most probably, even the use of outdoor showers. In a bid to raise money that would be ploughed back for the beach management, the MTA intends to rent out the catering outlet in the area.

Part of phase two of the project, which will start in October, will be the building of the promenade.

Asked whether the current number of parking spaces around the promenade would be decreased, Mr Lungaro-Mifsud said this had not been discussed but he did not think any spaces would be lost.

A second water culvert will be built. A culvert already exists at the right side of the beach as you look out at sea and the other will be built on the opposite side as part of phase two. The two culverts will be joined so that if one is not able to cope with the volume of water, this would be diverted into the other.

Despite the "excellent" feedback, Mr Lungaro-Mifsud said more needed to be done and one could not become complacent. He stressed the need for constant supervision to be able to maintain the standards.

Comments on the quality of the sand, brought over from Jordan, were also very positive. The sand chosen is large grain so that the water would not carry it away. Because of its size, the sand did not stick to the body of sunbathers as much as the finer sand in other beaches, meaning less inconvenience for the people as well as a cleaner environment, Mr Lungaro-Mifsud said.

The MTA is aware that a percentage of sand will be lost, as with any beach replenishment. Miami Beach, for example, is replenished every five or six years, notwithstanding the precautions taken.

St George's Bay is a pilot project and there were plans to extend such concepts to other beaches around the island. This, he said, would not happen overnight, mainly because of the huge expenses involved. While the project was wholly funded by the Maltese government, now that Malta was an EU member there was the possibility to obtain funding from the Union for future projects.

Mr Lungaro-Mifsud stressed that with Malta being an island, visitors expected to find sun, sea and beaches. "They might not expect to find endless beaches as in other countries, where one can walk for hours, but they expect cleanliness," he said.