Contract awarded 'only three days' before election

The contract for the disposal of inert material from the building and construction industry was granted on April 8, only three days before the last general election, Charles Buhagiar, Labour party spokesman on public works claimed yesterday.

The general practice resorted to for "many years" was that a caretaker government would not approve contracts of a substantial nature unless they were connected with the general running of things, he added.

The five-year contract was awarded to a consortium made up of Polidano Brothers Ltd and SWR Co. Ltd, a German firm.

Resources and Infrastructure Minister Ninu Zammit announced on Tuesday that no more inert waste was to be dumped at Maghtab as from that day, except for the amount needed to cover domestic waste for health reasons.

The consortium will be responsible for breaking up the inert material and disposing of it in exhausted quarries. Quarries to be used for this purpose would have to be covered by a Malta Environment and Planning Authority permit.

Mr Buhagiar pointed out that the minister has not laid a copy of the contract on the table of the House of Representatives, in spite of calls by the opposition.

In the absence of a copy of the contract, the Labour spokesman said, it would be pertinent for the minister to shed light on several points, among them the kind of monitoring Mepa would carry out to ensure that only inert material would be dumped in disused quarries.

Another point was whether the consortium had taken out insurance cover in favour of the Malta Resources Authority to make up for any contamination of the water table.

What were the conditions Mepa made to the owners of disused quarries that will be used for the dumping of such waste?

The consortium will be paid Lm1.18 plus VAT for every tonne of waste it dumps, which amounts to about Lm1 million a year. Who will make up for this expense, Mr Buhagiar asked.

The Labour spokesman also wanted to know whether other operators in the construction industry had been consulted before this new system came into force.

Reacting to these comments, Minister Zammit categorically denied that the contract had been awarded in an irregular manner. The negotiations and recommendations had been concluded much earlier than the general election date and the process was in accordance with the parameters established by the government, he said.

Mr Zammit said that WasteServ, a government company, was responsible for monitoring the dumping of inert waste. Apart from this, Mepa had carried out inspections to ascertain that no environmental damage would be caused.

The conditions stipulated in the Mepa permits were a guarantee against any environmental disaster taking place, and not as insinuated by Mr Buhagiar, Mr Zammit argued.

The minister said that the fees for the dumping of the inert waste would for now remain those established by the government.

The difference would be paid by the government as part of the contract with the consortium. If the need to review the fees were to arise in future, the operators in the industry will be consulted so that they would not be negatively affected, he said.