5 comments so far.Now workers wield pickaxes to break up the Dwejra sand
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Due to certain statements being released to the press by MEPA I think it is important to revisit the Dwejra issue and update this story. My main reason for doing this is because MEPA have stated in the press that it issued an order on October the 25th, for the area at Dwejra to be cleaned up by hand and for all mechanical equipment to be removed from the area. Well now something doesn’t ring true here because I wrote the original letter regarding this issue complete with photographs on October 28th and heavy equipment was still being used on that day. Indeed heavy equipment was still being used and was indeed photographed several days after this.
I have since received information from an eyewitness, which throws more light on the incident. A total of 40-45 truckloads of sand were dumped in the area of the fossil beds. After the storm on the Sunday night another 5 truckloads of sand were dumped onto the site. At this time there were many vehicles on the site, lorries, bulldozer etc as well as the largest crane in Gozo. The film crew basically took the area over during the 3 days they spent filming there closing it for hours at a time preventing tourists from doing what they came there for, to photograph the Azure Window.
Today I have been told that the area is a complete nightmare. I don’t know where the sand was brought from but it is obviously not normal beach sand. The reason I say that is because the sand has set rock hard! There are workers on site at the moment trying to remove it but they are having to use pickaxes to break it up. It would be interesting to know how they figure out where the hardened sand ends and the fossil bed begins. Oh and by the way, the €15,000 bank guarantee that MEPA have been talking about is not to cover any damage at Dwejra, it is the total amount to cover any damage at all the sites being used by the film company.
So far MEPA have blamed the film company and the film company have in turn blamed the sub-contractor. I guess the sub-contractor is all out of options unless they blame the sand suppliers. This sort of screw-up has been the norm at MEPA which as I understand it is why the Prime Minister’s office decided to lend a guiding hand to the authority. Obviously the guiding hand slipped off the reigns.
James A. Tyrrell,
Northern Ireland.
Readers Photo shows workers at Dwejra on Friday, the 5th of November.
Is this the way that Mepa has ordered the cleaning up of that area? I wonder what damage this has caused to the fossils over there.
This is national shame for Mepa for allowing this to happen.
In the end, and at the final analysis,who really cares? Its a great big cock up, and they don’t know what to do about it. Heads have to roll and the lesson learnt, I can see the site being destroyed forever because the film company only thought of their own selfish needs, to film something unique. Is it MEPA’s fault or the Maltese Film board for allowing the company to film here.?
It took thousands of years to create Dwejra. it took 3 days to destroy it, I want to see them all on their hands and knees the film company, MEPA staff, the sub-contractors, the politicians, all with hand brushes and dust pans making the area free of sand then we can see what damage has been done.
The sand is obviously builders sand, we don’t have enough beach sand on Gozo to cover the area, except perhaps on Ramla. Can you imagine what would have happened if the bulldozers had moved in on Ramla? They would be saying its ok we are only borrowing it you can have it all back when we have finished filming. I bet the sand supplier was very happy, biggest order he has had for years.
The film company has now probably left the island, never to return, so why should they care its all in the can !!!
To be fair, when I was down there yesterday morning the guys trying to clean up the disaster are being very, very careful, especially those working on their hands and knees with brushes and brooms trying to clear out grit from all the nooks and crannies. It must be a boring and back breaking job that, as Mr. Wilson said, should have been done by the perpetrators themselves.
The guys using the picks have no option as the quarry grit has solidified. Again, I had the impression that they too are trying to be careful.
This is in no way an excuse for MEPA who obviously should never have issued such a permit in the first place. Since being under the Gonzi armpit they have gone from bad to worse, and ultimately it is Gonzi who is to blame!
If what the reported above is true i.e. 40-45 truckloads of not ‘normal’ beach sand were dumped on the spot, then frankly this is madness. There is no other way of describing it.
I cannot imagine any serious permit issuer in his or her right-frame of mind giving his or her go-ahead for such a stupid operation, especially when when one considers that the sand dumped was not beach sand but the grit which is used by our construction industry !
Can the permit request be published because it would be interesting to find out if it specified the volume of the sand and the intended origin (i.e. from where it would have been brought over to Dwejra)?
Even if the permit request mentions procuring 40-45 truckloads of beach sand, this should have in itself raised a barrage of questions. Where can you get that kind of beach sand volume in Gozo ??
If the above is true about the sand being used to cover the fossils just for the sake of a film then the Minister for Gozo & Malta should be quaking in his/her boots as they should be hung, drawn and quartered for letting this happen! Along with the film company and anyone else that was involved!
Please God let this be a hoax as this is a World Culture Centre for fossils over 3 BILLION years old!!
JS
Bristol ENGLAND