Birzebbuga Aquatic & Sports Club

The Club was opened in 1967 and after 41 years at the mercy of the sea salt and other deteriorating factors, the club is currently in a pittiful state.

The development of the FREEPORT  project in Birzebbuga in the early nineties brought about a new dimension to the problems of the club.  The Freeport required a deeper sea bed to accomodate the large ships that were earmarked to use this facility.  This entailed the dredging of the sea bed from the sand accumulated there over the millenia.  To save costs, the sand was pumped towards the sea shore which, apart from creating the sandy beach that the village has today, has resulted in the lowering of the sea bed debt by as much as 60% close to our club premises.

Through the constant movements of the sea currents themselves, as well as the artifical currents created by the movements of the heavy sea vessels within the port itself, sand began to be pushed into the club's pool itself resulting in the lowering of its depth as well as the blocking of the water intakes that were intended to permit the free circulation of sea water within the pool.  The reduction in the depth of the pool resulted in it becoming unusable for any competitive matches.  The blockage of the water intake meant that sea water was no longer circulating within the pool as much as is required with the result that the water within became stagnant and thus unhealthy to even swim in. 

As a result the club ceased to attract the number of visitors that could support a viable venture at the club's bar with the result that our major source of finance was much reduced and therefore the club could no longer finance the continuous repairs that are required to maintain it in operational state.

In 2007 the Health Inspectors declared the bar premises unfit for use and hence this had to be closed until the required funds could be sourced to carry out the much needed repairs. Without an operational bar the club lost its last source of finance which meant that the requirements by the health department could never be met internally.

The authorities tried three times in the past to remedy this silting of the pool by employing contractors to dredge it at an estimate cost each time of around Euro 50,000.  However, all this expense proved to no avail since the silting returned within a few weeks of the dredging being done.

This was the reason why 6 years ago, the club's committee embarked on an ambitious project to re-build  the club to modern standards that would fit the needs of a competitive aquatic club.

Below are some satelite images showing in this order:

• the continuous shifting of the sand withi the bay, and especially near our club
• the accumulation of this shifting sand around the club's pool
• the accumulation of sand within the pool itself - see the white patches 

 For photographs of the state of the club itself please go to the photo gallery.

Note

Since the above was uploaded onto the web site in December 2008, we are pleased to report that in January 2009 the Ministry of Resources and Urban Affairs has taken the first step by demolishing our club house which was certified as dangerous by our architects.  The club, its member and the rest of the Birzebbuga residents are now praying that the next stage i.e. the rebuilding of the club house and the rehabilitation of the pool area in line with the plans already approved by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) will not take another 8 years.

Check out demolition photos