Rainwater culverts did not eliminate a flooding problem in Malta

Miriam Dalli in Malta Today: Alternattiva Demokratika says the 1997 Balzan Valley Flood Relief Project and rainwater culverts did not eliminate flooding problem. The Green Party said an urgent flood mitigation strategy was needed in Balzan and said government was not addressing the problem.

“The flooding problem has been with us for ages, and the government has not addressed the problem. The local council had planned to build a reservoir to collect rain water, but it never materialised over a land dispute with the Good Shepard sisters,” AD’s candidate for Balzan’s local council, Andre Vella, said.

Vella said the flood relief project, which dates back to 1997, and the rainwater culverts did not eliminate the flooding problem. “The Storm Water Relief system promised to build an underground tunnel between Mosta and Msida but it is still in a state of uncertainty,” he added.

“Despite these efforts, last year the foul smelling flooding problem was even greater as we remember cars floating in Balzan Valley. This calls for an urgent flooding mitigation strategy.” AD’s spokesman for sustainable development Carmel Cacopardo said flooding would get worse in the years to come, as a result of climate change problems. “Unfortunately, when the Climate Change Adaptation Strategy was drawn up, it did not focus on local impacts,” Cacopardo said....

A bus during a Maltese downpour, shot by Felix O, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license