[WATCH] Video shows effluent still pouring into contaminated Balluta Bay

Swimmers have sent photographs and footage of what appears to be waste water pouring out of a drain and into Sliema’s Balluta Bay.

Balluta Bay is often the subject of warnings from the Environmental Health Directorate to bathers, and has been closed since May, after the health authorities detected the presence of E.Coli and I.Enterococci bacteria in water samples taken from the bay, which point to faecal contamination. 

Two weeks ago MaltaToday had reported that no fines had been issued to the parties responsible for the contamination of St George’s Bay and Balluta Bay.

Earlier this week, Opposition MP Albert Buttigieg had suggested to Parliament that this was not an innocent mistake, accusing the government of intentionally allowing sewage to pollute Balluta Bay in order to pave the way for it to be developed into a ferry port.

“The Government wants to turn Balluta Bay into a commercial port," Buttigieg said in his adjournment speech on Wednesday. "The Government is betraying the common good to appease its inner circle.” 

It was the second time in two weeks that Buttigieg had asked why the authorities were not tackling the outflow of sewage into what was previously a popular swimming zone. 

The authorities had closed the bay to bathers last month in the light of the sewage contamination, which Buttigieg said suggested that there were ulterior motives behind its prolonged closure.

MaltaToday had previously reported that Fortina Group’s Captain Morgan had withdrawn plans to build a jetty in the bay in the wake of protests by activists and residents, after a barge carrying digging machinery was towed into the bay. 

Buttigieg urged the government to address the problem by tracing the pollution back to its source and then reopening the bay once it was made safe for swimming again.