€180,000 Xlendi quay project completed

A €180,000 project to rebuild and improve the 45-metre long Xlendi breakwater has been completed, infrastructure minister Ian Borg announced on Saturday.

Borg visited the project together with Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana.

He said the investment has not only led to safer facilities for fishermen, maritime operators and boat owners, but has also turned infrastructure which was dampening the aesthetic of the picturesque area and its surroundings into an attraction for those who visit this island as well as for Gozitans.

Borg said thanks to the new design, this quay will be able to offer improved shelter for the inlet as well as improved access for the zone’s maritime activities.

The lower quay’s passage was widened and designed with more space to improve safety for those who use it to embark or disembark on boats tied to it, while new facilities for the tying of boats on the sides of the quay. The Minister also said that thanks to the project, access was also created for the first time for persons with mobility issues such as the elderly and persons with disability, as the design of part of this structure facilitates embarking and disembarking from boats.

Borg said the old quay was built decades ago and was dangerous due to its contact with sea water which had weakened its foundations; in fact during a storm earlier this year, the outer part of the quay collapsed and urgent works were carried out at the beginning of summer so that the quay would not continue to collapse. He explained that just afterwards, this old structure started being removed to make way for necessary repairs and the rebuilding of the quay’s foundations and its new surface on two levels. A temporary pontoon was installed beside the existing quay so that, while the new one was being built, this could offer alternative facilities for fishermen’s boats.

The structure’s plans were prepared last year, and work started earlier this year and during summer. This took place after the concerned authorities were consulted, including the Planning Authority and the environmental authorities, to ensure that works were done in a way that would not have a negative impact on this site of ecological importance. Precautions such as a protective curtain which was placed in the sea around the quay to reduce the risk of construction material spreading across the bay were also taken, he said.

He also referred to other projects with the aim of improving Malta and Gozo’s coastal infrastructure, including the restoration and improvement of the ten slipways in Marsaxlokk. He said that next year, Infrastructure Malta will coordinate the construction of a new breakwater in Qrejten and the development of new landing sites in Cospicua and Sliema.

Borg explained that in the case of Gozo, Infrastructure Malta will be carrying out dredging works as well as the rebuilding of the Mġarr Menqa quay, while the pontoons of the same harbour will be replaced with new ones. Similar pontoons will be replaced in Marsaxlokk as well.

Minister Caruana said that the project is only part of a number of initiatives on which the Ministry of Gozo is working in order to improve maritime infrastructure in Gozo. This project forms part of the Xlendi masterplan, which has been divided into different phases so as to make the project more realistic and feasible, she said.

Caruana said that during next summer another important infrastructural project will commence at Mġarr Harbour. This project, which had been already announced earlier on and which will cost €4 million, includes the cleaning of the seabed and an increase in berths for Gozitan fishermen. The Minister for Gozo said that these are not isolated projects but that they form part of a holistic programme of initiatives that the said Ministry is implementing in its endevour to help Gozitan fishermen. The dry standing areas in Mġarr and Xlendi will also be rehabilitated.

The Minister for Gozo noted that plans for the reconstruction of the Marsalforn breakwater are proceeding well. This project had remained on paper for many years, and the fact that it was never implemented surely did not benefit the fishermen that use this port.

The minister said the last two tenders for the studies related to the reconstruction of the breakwater are going to be published in the coming weeks. These studies are important in order to finalise the plans and eventually an application will be submitted to the competent authorities.