Environment Minister Miriam Dalli has attributed the collapse of a newly rebuilt wall in Mosta’s Wied Speranza to site conditions and water pressure, describing these factors as beyond the control of both Project Green and its contractor.
The wall remains unrepaired, months after a commitment to rebuild it following the wet season.
The rubble wall partly collapsed just six weeks after the inauguration of the valley’s regeneration project, sending rocks and soil into the watercourse it was supposed to protect.
In January, The Shift reported that Daniel Abela, director of contractor LBA Ltd, had promised to rebuild the damaged section at his company’s expense, with no additional cost to the public purse.
No action has been taken since.
In her latest parliamentary reply given last week, Miriam Dalli introduced a requirement for additional funding without specifying the amount or who will pay.
Asked why no work had been carried out despite repairs being expected in May 2026, Dalli said Project Green had appointed an expert to establish the cause of the damage and determine how to proceed.
The inspection, she said, could take place only after water levels in the valley fell.
According to the minister, the assessment identified several contributing factors, including site conditions, soil retaining more water than anticipated, and water pressure against the wall.
She explicitly described these factors as beyond Project Green’s or the contractor’s control.
Dalli said the wall would not be rebuilt using the original method. Instead, a solution better suited to the site’s conditions had been prepared.
Project Green and the expert drew up new designs, which she said had been approved by the Environment and Resources Authority and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage.
The proposed works are more extensive and deeper than originally planned, requiring additional funding, she said.
The reply provided neither a starting date nor a completion deadline. Dalli reiterated that the valley’s environmental characteristics restrict works to months without rain, raising the prospect of another postponement until next summer.
The collapsed section, for which Dalli and Project Malta commisison and expert, is no longer than 15 metres long.
Sign up to our newsletter Stay in the know
"*" indicates required fields
Non-Maltese in local education up 50 per cent in five years
More losses at Shoreline as financial squeeze intensifies
Three consortia bid for new hospital tender – all exceed €1.3 billion budget
A budget of hugs, handouts and scapegoats
Tags
#collapse
#Miriam Dalli
#speranza
#wall
Other News
Non-Maltese in local education up 50 per cent in five years
More losses at Shoreline as financial squeeze intensifies
Three consortia bid for new hospital tender – all exceed €1.3 billion budget
A budget of hugs, handouts and scapegoats
Watchdog exposes government recruitment chaos but keeps ministries unnamed
VAT lottery changes follow scrutiny over suspicious repeat wins
Charter flight and pocket money paid by taxpayers for mayors’ botched papal audience
King Corrupto and the blame game
€9 million splashed on government boards as wives also benefit irregularly
Indian students up 35%, Chinese 29%, Maltese down 2.2% in a year
Retired judge handed €72,000 salary and chauffeur to monitor government advertising
Il-perit oriġinali min hu?
“The proposed works are more extensive and deeper than originally planned, requiring additional funding, she said”
And Holding true to Labour’s philosophy, someone somewhere, needs to make an extra buck out of all of this !
And the rest will continue to fall since 2050.
U ha tkun vera difficli ghal li gej min ikun fit tronn. Impossibli li jitrangaw l’affarijiet. Il-marda li kullhadd jaghmel li jrid fil-pajjiz dahlet wisq il gewwa.
Kanser fl’istituzjonijuet kollha.
Il verdett li rajna dan l’ahhar ta DCG kien ezami fejn jinsab il-poplu malti taht gvern socjalista. Pajjiz Dittatorjali. Pajjiz marid.
U issa marda ohra tal barrani. Nies irewhu f’kollox qas jafu x’laqafhom. Mbaghad isib 70.000 ruh mac civil.
Water in a valley? How can it be? Quite a discovery by our esteemed minister. She and her trusted consultants should be nominated for the Nobel prize.
Joking apart, why are the repairs, when and if made, to be paid out of our taxes. The contractor was paid to do a job, which he did miserably. So why should we taxpayers make good for his shoddy work?