Marsaskala boat owners insist moorings on proposed waterpolo pitch site are regular

A project description statement filed by Sports Malta says sea craft moorings in an area where a waterpolo pitch will be built in Marsaskala are irregular but boat owners contend otherwise

14 November 2019, 12:52pm
by Staff Reporter

2 min read

Photo montage of how the proposed waterpolo pitch will look inside Marsaskala bay

Boat owners with moorings inside Marsaskala bay are disputing an assertion made in the project description statement for the proposed waterpolo pitch that berthing places are irregular.

The PDS filed by the government for a new waterpolo pitch in Marsaskala quoted Transport Malta saying that “none of the moorings” used by pleasure craft in the area identified for the pitch were regularised.

MaltaToday had flagged this when reporting on the PDS last month.

However, the Għaqda Baħħara Sajjieda u Dilettanti Wied il-Għajn are insisting that “the majority of the moorings within the proposed waterpolo pitch area are registered with TM”.

The group said boat owners are paying an annual permit fee ranging from €41.93 to €111.80 for each mooring depending on the size of boat.

It added that TM has issued over 600 mooring permits inside Marsaskala bay and the authority has a waiting list of applicants for more mooring permits.

The group said that not only is the greater majority of boats secured to registered TM mooring permits, but boats are also tied according to conditions that come with the permit.

“More specifically, not only are the 40 plus boats currently moored in the area designated for the new waterpolo pitch registered, but Għaqda Baħħara Sajjieda u Dilettanti Wied il-Għajn has the assurance from TM that these will be taken into consideration and relocated in the process,” the group said, adding it found it hard to believe that any reliable source from the authority’s mooring section “could possibly have said something so diametrically opposite to the truth”.

The Marsaskala waterpolo pitch was a government promise when the land in Żonqor, including the former national waterpolo pitch, was given to Sadeen for the construction of a campus for the American University of Malta.

Over 2,300sq.m of Marsaskala’s seabed will be reclaimed for the waterpolo pitch and clubhouse. The development is being proposed by government agency Sports Malta.