After a video was making the rounds on social media showing St George’s Bay, St Julians with murky water due to construction projects ongoing in the area, Minister for Tourism Clayton Bartolo issued a statement reassuring beachgoers of the safety of the bay.
‘Last week’, wrote Bartolo, ‘the Malta Tourism Authority carried out a project of regeneration in this bay which saw it expand through the addition of more sand.’
‘The sand is crushed granite with the same characteristics of that placed in 2004, 2007 and 2015.
‘While the majority of the sand particles are larger, there is still a small amount of fine sand in the form of dust. Although this is controlled during production to be no more than 1%, and despite the sand being continuously wetted during the work, when the sand comes into contact with the sea, it gets “washed” and some of the dust is released into the water.’
‘This is expected to continue for a limited time and can also reoccur after a storm or even if the wind changes direction. This is the same phenomenon that happens on any other beach, except that the natural sand is lighter in colour and therefore not as visible in the water. This situation had also occurred in previous years when sand was placed on the beach, so it was expected to happen this time as well.’
‘I want to emphasise that this is not contamination and the sea is still safe for swimming’, concluded the minister.
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