1 comment.Ramla Bay clean-up carried out under supervision – MEPA
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The Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) in a statement this afternoon makes reference to the recent reinstatement works that were carried out in Ramla il-Hamra Bay prior to the start of the summer season.
The Authority said that it consented that reinstatement works can proceed, after it was satisfied with the detailed method statement that was submitted by the Ministry for Gozo. “As in previous years, works commenced in the very early hours of Friday morning so as to leave the bay open and not create any inconvenience for visiting tourist and the public.”
MEPA said that “the reinstatement works, as detailed in the method statement, were carried out using a backhoe loader and a tractor shovel, under the supervision of an engineer and two Gaia Foundation representatives as has been happening over the past 13 years. Gaia Foundation, an environment NGO, is responsible for the management of this site.”
The Authority said that it “can confirm that it was impossible for the large accumulation of pebbles to be shifted by hand, as had been pointed out by Dr Deidun on the social media. The accumulated pebbles were spread along a length of 30 feet by 10 feet, at an approximate depth of 4 feet.”
“The pebbles, located on the beach, were carefully shifted by the tractor shovel and gathered into a pile such that time to transport pebbles with the backhoe loader was kept minimal.
MEPA pointed out that “additionally, the large number of pebbles which were accumulated on the sand dunes were all removed manually by beach cleaners under the supervision of Gaia representatives.”
“The Roman Villa remains, as instructed by Heritage Malta, were covered again with sand following which pebbles were cushioned manually to ensure that they remain protected.”
MEPA concluded, “the works carried out, as confirmed by Gaia Foundation, did not affect the ecological integrity of the site but restored the normal state of the beach that was disturbed by the denuding of sand beneath the Belancourt Battery and the presence of the said stones, extraneous to the natural elements of the beach.”
Deceitful reporting at its best – shame on MEPA for submitting such PR’s – the stringent environmental monitoring conditions imposed by EPD within MEPA, as happened during the last 13 years (Rudolph Ragonesi, pls note) were scrapped by the Chairman’s office and no EPD officials (the only ones competent enough do engage in such monitoring) were present on the day – SHAME!!!