Cleaning up our act

The shooting of a firearm in the direction of enforcement officers at an illegal scrapyard earlier this month points to the type of mind that regulators are up against: criminal, delinquent, unhinged.

Officers of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority must be ensured every means of back up and support from the police and the army as and when necessary. While the existing enforcement team are doing their best, more resources and manpower would help bring the situation under control.

Cliffhanger

Twice a year the Office of the Ombudsman publishes a booklet of case notes with details of complaints of unfair treatment which it has taken up. The Malta Environment and Planning Authority makes a regular appearance among its pages.

As the Director of Planning himself has recently pointed out, when a permit is refused the developer might resort to a politician who contacts MEPA to amend its policies to accommodate his constituent. If the Authority bends its policies to meet the politician's desire then it risks having the Ombudsman barking at its heels.

The latest MEPA case to be brought before the Ombudsman looks at the issue of a permit in Gozo, despite the fact that there were serious misgivings as to whether the project should be allowed to go through. It was noted that a number of shortcomings corrupted the application for a cliff edge development at Xaghra from the very start.

The Ombudsman rapped the Development Control Commission for accepting the application despite the fact that it ran contrary to MEPA's own policy guidelines regarding accessibility and rural conservation.

To quote the Ombudsman: "These actions could not but cast legitimate doubts as to why in this case development guidelines had been flouted and the developer had been allowed to exploit to his advantage the tortuous procedures adopted by the Authority in its processing of applications for development projects."

A 1996 application for the site was originally turned down on the grounds of it being a "bulky and incongruous feature at the edge of an inland cliff." The developers went on to win an appeal using the type of loophole argument resorted to nowadays to successfully bypass the Structure Plan: "...although the site was in a rural conservation area, the area was already manifestly built up and policies regarding rural conservation areas were not considered applicable in this case."

This is the devious sort of approach being used to bring our regulatory institutions to their knees with a derailed form of logic issuing from the developers:

"The other guy got away with it and therefore you have no right to prevent me from doing likewise."

Two or more wrongs make everything right when viewed through this distorted eyeglass.

Monday night at Marsa

A European conference on noise pollution has called for an EU-wide ban on night flights. This came to mind the other Monday as I tried slipping off to sleep in St Julian's with the noise of what sounded like jet engines ringing in my ears. In fact the noise was not from the airport but caused by the steam blowing of boilers at Marsa power station.

A Marsa resident in a letter to the press complained that both the noise and the smell were quite unbearable, causing a sleepless night for Marsa residents.

Enemalta offers its explanation of the incident:

"Over the weekend Boiler 8 was shut down for some minor maintenance. It was envisaged that by Monday morning the work would be completed and boiler would be put back in service. However, due to unforeseen technical difficulties, the work involved took more than anticipated and boiler warming up started at 5 p.m.

"Consequently, on Monday night the noise heard in the vicinity of the Marsa power station was due to the steam that is discharged into the atmosphere while a boiler is warmed up to pressure. The cloud of dust mentioned and photographed is nothing but steam. This cloud of steam can clearly be seen coming out from the top of the boiler, not from the chimney.

"As a policy, it is normal practice to warm up a boiler during the day. However, in exceptional cases similar to the case in question, which was due to technical reasons beyond our control, boilers are warmed up during the night. This is the case in an emergency such as when a unit trips or when additional units are put into service to meet sudden increases in demand.

"Soot blowers are not utilised to clean chimneys, but to clean the internals of a boiler. These blowers can only be used while the boiler is in service. In this case the boiler was being warmed up, therefore no soot blowers were being operated."

It would certainly be more reassuring to the public if the power station were to inform MEPA whenever steam blowing is scheduled so that air monitoring can be carried out. In this way it could be determined to the satisfaction of all that the cloud of dust is "nothing but steam" despite the accompanying smell reported by Marsa residents.

VRT emissions testing

The new tax on second-hand car imports, while favouring the large agencies for new cars, may go some small way toward tackling exhaust emissions on our roads. For a more level playing field spread over the local auto market, immediate application of emissions testing as part of the VRT certificate might have been a wiser choice.

In fairness to the owners of old bangers who are often from a lower income bracket it may be worth considering a future compliance date on a graduating scale. But the results of individual vehicle tests on polluting gases in exhaust on our roads should no longer be kept tidily out of sight.

Our lungs and noses are not fooled so let us at least have the emissions figures down on paper and up for discussion. Whether from Japan or Europe, there are too many old cars spewing clouds of smoke, usually the result of bad maintenance.

Around this time last year Environment Minister George Pullicino told The Sunday Times that he was looking forward to the day when VRT tests would include emissions control. Are we to blame the Transport Ministry for the delay? The two ministries should demonstrate better coherence and make a joint effort to reduce pollution by means of the Vehicle Road Test for better air quality .

Making a difference

Appealing to children's lust for hamburgers is something McDonald's does well. The fast food chain is equally notorious among local environment groups for being a producer of waste. Local outlets have yet to switch from polystyrene containers to environment-friendlier and more recyclable cardboard ones, as used at their outlets in countries such as Germany.

The idea of a chain which markets high-fat, low-fibre food hijacking World Children's Day has been challenged in the local press. There is also building opposition within local councils as to how credible McDonald's really is as a sponsor of Clean Up the World.

Malta united with the rest of the world last Tuesday to tidy up streets, play areas and open spaces. Individuals were urged to look for a place to clean up in their neighbourhood. They did not have to look far.

Response to the Environment Ministry's call was varied from 24 councils (as of time of writing). The local councils of Ghaxaq and Attard chose to clear dumped material from nearby valleys. At San Lawrenz a dump site marring the picturesque Dwejra was to be cleared. Gharghur focused on areas of natural beauty while Qala council worked on sprucing up Hondoq ir-Rummien. The Malta Greens want to see that part of the Gozo coastline kept clear of mega-projects in the name of tourism. Perhaps they are also right about the clean-up activities being held on a week day since more public participation could have been expected on a Saturday or Sunday.

Floriana council has found Belt il-Hazna and Haywharf to be problematic for dumping. Executive secretary Kenneth Brincat says the council is engaging wardens to supervise the areas as a preventative initiative. Surveillance systems may be considered in the near future. The council intends to install more bins at littering-prone points and has proposed a by-law to prevent litter caused by feeding of pigeons in public spaces. Local sports clubs will be helping to clean up the Independence Arena.

At L-Iklin the local council is kept busy all year round with the job of cleaning-up rubbish and heavy material dumped in non-urban areas, namely Tal-Balal area and near the Net TV antenna.

"Dumping is one of our major headaches and we are constantly on the look out for culprits," says executive secretary Alfred Naudi. Dog litter is considered another major problem. "We have issued flyers time and again warning culprits of heavy fines if booked. Unfortunately this practice keeps going on and on."

Old newspapers, magazines and paper products for recycling are accepted at L-Iklin council premises.

GM on GMOs

The Ministry for Rural Affairs and Environment is presently weighed down with a long "to do" list before Malta joins the European Union next May.

The European Commission's report on preparations for EU membership has tagged our agricultural sector as lagging behind in organic farming, rural development, animal nutrition and several other areas. Structural improvements have also to take place in the Maltese fisheries sector which fall under the same ministry. Under environment protection (same over-burdened ministry again) Malta falls short of aligning with or putting into force EU directives on waste management and nature protection.

Even as we attempt to close the yawning gap with Europe we should be urgently shaping up to battle a potential influx of genetically modified crops into Maltese fields. The first draft of a Sustainable Development Strategy for Malta to be discussed in December by the newly appointed committee proposes that GMOs should be treated with the same caution as alien species.

It is recommended that Malta ratify and implement the Cartagena Protocol in order to prevent any possible invasive behaviour of GMOs. Like so many other things, we tend to turn a blind eye, choosing to believe that it could not happen here.

Regulation No. 1946/2003 on transboundary movement of genetically modified organisms has been passed through the European Parliament and came into force at the beginning of this month. The regulation reminds member states of their obligations:

"It is important to organise the supervision and control of transboundary movements of GMOs in order to contribute to ensuring the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health, and so as to enable citizens to make a free and informed choice in regard to GMOs."

If GMO seed enters Malta for use in cultivation then MEPA as the competent authority must be notified before the first intentional movement across national borders of a GMO intended for deliberate release into the environment takes place. This information must be made available to the public in accordance with European Community rules on access to environmental information.

Authorisations for planting of genetically modified organisms in other parts of Europe are being vetted by the European Food Safety Authority. The European Greens are campaigning heavily on the issue of food safety.

As a committee is being set up at MEPA to handle applications for local GM plantings, the Ministry has barely responded to requests for a meeting with concerned parties and NGOs, saying only that any discussion will be held "at a later stage."

In the meantime the ministry assures us that "any development regarding the issue will be made public" adding that its position remains unchanged. Malta does not yet have a vote at European level until after May 1. The ministry has not so far felt the need to delve too deeply into the debate on genetically modified organisms.

This leaves us very much in the dark as to how things will proceed when the first application to plant genetically modified seed in Malta is filed. Judging by how development applications tend to slip through the net the situation is hardly reassuring. Organic farmers are particularly worried.