Marfa road project, Għadira promenade works finally concluded

There’s some good news for people who enjoy spending a day at Ghadira Bay after enduring summers of chaos.

The infrastructural works at Għadira Bay, which included the road leading towards Ċirkewwa and the embellishment of the promenade, have finally been concluded, three years after they started and not without delay.

The project was set to be concluded last year, but was only inaugurated this week by Transport Minister Chris Bonett and Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo. The project was carried out in fits and starts, given the popularity of the area during the summer months, during which work was halted to make it easier for beachgoers, although access to the sandy bay and the restaurants in the area was limited for long stretches on time.

In a statement, the government said that the works, that spanned 3km on the carriageways from Ċirkewwa, began near the Armier roundabout and reached the roundabout on the lower part of Għadira bay.

It said that the works included installation of water services, new systems of energy distribution as well as newly-laying the road and working on aesthetics. It added that whilst these works were going on, the Tourism Authority worked on the promenade from the roundabout at the start of Għadira bay to the Armier parking.

The government said that the project included a new organization of the road with the introduction of parking on the side of the bay that sees much activity. Parking on the other side of the road has been eliminated, with the result that the number of parking spaces has been drastically reduced.

“Everything is indicating that this year will be one of more great successes in tourism in terms of arrivals, nights spent and, significantly, the expenditure into our economy,” Bartolo said.

Bonett said an investment of this type shows that through the coordination between entities, projects that for a long time were thought to be too difficult to be done can be realized and give high quality results.  

The Chief Executive of Infrastructure Malta, Ivan Falzon, noted how, through this expenditure, the Għadira area became easier to be enjoyed by families throughout the whole year and not only in summer.

The Chief Executive of the Maltese Tourism Authority, Carlo Micallef, said, “Today the role of the authority isn’t just to advertise the Maltese islands and to convince airlines to start operating to Malta, but also to coordinate more work so that the local touristic product is always being improved.”