[WATCH] Ian Borg: Climate change to blame for excess rainfall that flooded roads

Flooding in recently built roads was not caused because of shortcomings by Infrastructure Malta but the result of freak weather "rarely seen before", Ian Borg said.

The Infrastructure Minister insisted that "truckloads of soil" were washed away by heavy rain and this blocked culverts in areas like Marsa, as he pointed his finger to climate change.

The intense rainfall of Thursday caused several major roads to flood, including the bottom lanes on the newly-built Marsa junction. In Burmarrad, an army helicopter had to be used to pull out an elderly motorist and rescuers out of harms way after the car got stuck in flood waters.

The major flooding on some of the new roads was the subject of several memes on social media, taking a dig at the multi-million-euro road projects.

But Borg was unfazed when asked by journalists about the flooding during a tour of the Ta' Qali Adventure Park, inaugurated on Friday.

The minister blamed Thursday’s widespread flooding on irregular weather patterns caused by climate change. “The circumstances were what they were... we saw rainfall volumes that are not common.”

He defended recent roadworks by Infrastructure Malta, insisting yesterday’s rainfall was a one-off. “It is not a question of not being prepared for the situation; it was a situation where we had truckloads of soil being carried towards areas like Marsa for example, which blocked culverts in the area... These are extraordinary situations.”

But Borg was evasive when asked whether models being used to identify appropriate water drainage systems when building new roads were outdated and did not cater for more frequent heavy downpours as a result of climate change.

He said government’s priority on Thursday was that of ensuring commuting services were returned to normal, adding that the authorities will now discuss the issue of compensation to residents hit by flooding.