Flooded roads are the price of PA and WSC incompetence, says Green Party
Malta would have less rainwater flooding its streets if the Planning Authority and Water Services Corporation did their jobs properly, ADPD – the Green Party has said.
The first rains since the start of summer hit the country over the past week, bringing with them the familiar sight of flooded roads and residential areas.
Speaking from Qormi, ADPD chairperson Carmel Cacopardo and electoral candidate Sandra Gauci both argued that flooding could be avoided through better planning and enforcement.
New housing developments were not being serviced with water-harvesting cisterns, Gauci said, leading to rainwater pouring into drains and leading to sewer overflows.
“Millions of euros, mostly EU funds, were spent in a flood relief project to address this issue,” Gauci said. “Yet any positive impact of such a project was rendered useless through the tolerance of developments which are not equipped to harvest water and consequently ends up in the sewer.”
Cacopardo agreed with that assessment, noting that many of Malta’s valleys had been built up, obstructing the natural flow of rainwater.
“The rainwater flowing through this valley last week contained sewage,” he said, speaking from the...