Exaggerated increase in landfill tipping fees
Further blow to the construction industry
The Malta Federation of Industry (FOI) was called to an urgent meeting on Thursday to be informed by the chairman of WasteServe Ltd that the landfill tipping fees for construction and demolition (C&D) waste will increase to 73c per tonne, including VAT, from the current 39c per tonne, including VAT, as from today.
The FOI representatives instantly protested that the increase was just another government-induced cost to the construction industry, ill-timed in the present economic situation, exorbitant, and an added cost to the public.
The FOI delegation emphasised that due notice should have been given about the increases to enable sufficient consultation with all stakeholders.
At the meeting, the FOI representatives were informed that the increase was based on a Government-commissioned report whose conclusions stated that the increase in fees would not cause a great increase in costs to businesses.
The FOI representatives argued that the Government report should have been discussed with all the stakeholders before any decision was taken.
The federation questions how this is going to be enforced when currently fly tipping is rampant and bound to increase with the additional costs.
Moreover, when asking the reason for such an increase in fees, FOI officials were shocked to hear that these fees would eventually have to go up to Lm1.18 per tonne to cover the fee being paid by Government to the contractor who is in charge of disposing C&D waste into quarries.
The FOI is extremely worried about how building contractors and other business operators are going to recover this increase in costs when they may have already committed themselves in their costings.
In fact, certain large contracts specify that there should not be any increase in costs for any reason whatsoever. It is also bound to increase the prices for public service projects, including roads and excavation works for public corporations.
The federation feels that this is not in the spirit of the current operating climate. This move will not contribute to business competitiveness, nor maintain the levels of employment in the construction industry, nor keep cost inflation down.