Water, water everywhere

There is local TV and radio advert that uses the phrase “some things never change”.  The last torrential storm that hit the island a few days ago brought this phrase to my mind.  Yet again, a few hours of heavy rain caused havoc and brought the nation to a standstill. 

Frankly, there are no more excuses to justify this unacceptable situation.  The government has known about this for years and his response has been a big nil.  If any, the situation has worsened and the government is to blame for allowing the building development in our valleys.  A definite solution is long overdue and urgently required.

One of the paper news items on the day after reported a staggering 100 tonnes of debris removed from the infamous Valley Road.   Unbelievable, how could this be?  Where did all that material come from?  Well, most of it must have been carried with floods from higher places mainly Rabat, Dingli, Naxxar, San Gwann and Gharghur area.  So, you don’t have to be a genius to understand that the problem arises there and can only be solved from there. 

The solution is certainly not the ludicrous storm water alarm installed in B’Kara valley.  Water needs to be rapped and stored in higher ground before it escapes downhill into Burmarrad, Balzan, Lija, B’Kara and Msida.  This would hit two birds with one stone, solve the flooding problem and generate a good water reserve.   Residents and businesses have sustained huge damages, I personally know of a car dealer who will have to scrap nine cars after severe flooding in his showroom in B’Kara.  

Several other citizens lost their cars and a couple almost lost their lives battling the flooding in the St Venera tunnels.  My wife got to her office an hour late and had to make her way through loads of obstacles and an unbearable stench of sewage, so much so for EU standards.  The only blame that we have is that we refrain from suing the government. 

In 25 years, so much budget speech babble and empty promises of miraculous flood relieve projects that never materialize.   To add insult to injury, Minister Pullicino has the sheer nerve to hit the news with yet another proposed project. Not even one single new reservoir built in half a century of incumbency.  Minister Tonio Fenech is also on record lamenting the cost of an eventual storm water storage facility. 

Come on sir, don’t give me this crap when you found it fit to spend €100 million to sit your backside in a new parliament building, €52 million to buy out the old bus drivers and a €2.3 million on a bridge to nowhere.  Get your priorities right, the people’s security precedes your Prim Ministers zeal to carve his name on a marble slate.  You have no one left to blame but yourself for this gross negligence in dealing with this enduring problem.  An epic fail, just pack up and go. 

The present administration has performed so poorly, that it should not be too difficult for a new Labour government to tackle this issue right away and finally do what the Nationalists have so dismally failed to do in 25 years.