Ferries €1m project didn’t solve sea flooding

A €1 million project at the Sliema Ferries did not solve, or even attempt to solve, the seawater flooding problem there, Transport Malta has admitted. It said solving the seawater flooding problems at the Ferries whenever the level of seawater changes did not “fall within the remit of this project” but was included in the planned underground car park project. Transport Malta has so far spent in excess of €950,000 to upgrade the promenade and the state of the roads at the Sliema Ferries. The project complements other upgrading work done in recent months, including the paving project on the other side of the Ferries. In replies to questions from The Sunday Times, a spokesman for Transport Malta said the problem of seawater flooding was being studied regularly with its tide gauges that monitor the variation in water levels. This monitoring exercise revealed that variations of more than one metre were not a regular occurrence and that water height variations became more significant in the past two years. He explained that when the present Ferries waterfront was reclaimed in the 1980s, the paved areas were designed to slope seaward so that storm water flows directly to the sea.