I am writing in reply to Charles Micallef (July 23) who is concerned with the choice of preferred site for the controlled engineered landfill. He is also preoccupied by the fact that abroad, landfills smell from miles away.
Where, in Malta, could a site have been selected that would have satisfied Mr Micallef simply because it is "miles away"?
Mr Micallef claims that residents have endured sufficiently because of Maghtab and have also been embarrassed when explaining to tourists about it. Technically, as the environmental impact assessment will eventually show, there are synergies that have to be capitalised upon by having the new controlled engineered landfill close to the landraise dump. One reason for this is to control the combusting activity on Maghtab and to reduce odour emissions to a minimum.
As for tourists, these are always astonished by Maghtab but also by the fact that, given the constraints of the island, waste separation is not widely accepted and practised. As I am sure Mr Micallef will acknowledge, establishing such a culture within tourist resorts alone has proved a daunting task so far.
Mr Micallef claims that the restoration of disused quarries by inert material, hence diverting 300 trucks of this material from Maghtab daily, is a short-term solution and does not rid us of Maghtab. The award of the contract for the management of waste originating from the building industry is not to rid us of Maghtab but to divert voluminous tonnes of inert waste from degrading Maghtab any further. This will allow for the eventual closure and restoration of the site.
An added advantage of this project is the restoration of disused quarries, making way for the afforestation/agricultural purposes. It is widely acknowledged that, had inert material been diverted to land reclamation, the idea of restoring these gaping holes in our landscape would be unattainable. When these quarries are exhausted and following the five-year project, plans are in hand to put this material to beneficial use by resorting to alternative solutions.