James Debono Transport Malta has applied to install a fixed pier to provide safe landing to passenger-carrying craft visiting the blue lagoon after a floating pontoon set in the same location capsized, leaving a German tourist injured last August.
While last year’s installation consisted of a floating pontoon, the new application submitted to MEPA consists of a fixed structure finished with a wooden deck with railings around three of its sides. The new structure will be placed on the footprint of the dilapidated part of an existing quay.
Back in 2006 MEPA had already refused an application for a fixed permanent structure in the same location because of its visual and ecological impact.
But the structure which is being proposed now will be removable and more acceptable from an environmental point of view. In fact MEPA’s own Nature Panel has found no problem with the latest plans submitted by Transport Malta.
The demountable pier will be located just outside the Blue Lagoon’s ‘swimming zone’ which was demarcated for the first time last year. The aim of this project is “to enable the safe transfer of passengers and goods to Comino.”
It will also serve as “a safe landing place” for the mooring of small craft, a spokesperson for the Ministry for Transport told MaltaToday.
Although the proposed pier will be substantially greater than the present jetty, the new development will have a negligible impact on the sea bed because the new pier is “not a solid construction” and the area is already disturbed by the remnants of the demolished quay, the Ministry contends. The wooden deck and railing will provide a natural finish “that aesthetically blends well with the surrounding natural environment.”
Transport Malta will also appoint an enforcement team responsible to conduct regular spot-checks at the new quay to ensure its proper use.
An application by the Maritime Authority to repair and extend the present jetty by a permanent fixed structure built on boulders deposited in to the sea had been turned down by MEPA in 2006.
The case officer report calling for the refusal of this application described the existing jetty as an eyesore, in a pristine area. The report also expressed concern that this development could alter wave patterns, endangering the blue lagoon sandy beach.
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