Playing chairman

Michael Falzon's contribution (March 4) confirms the point I was making about certain chairmen in publicly funded entities who make partisan politics their first priority, above their duty as chairman to serve and objectively inform citizens. When criticised about this, Mr Falzon protests his right to air his particular political views but slights the right of others, namely the representatives of thousands of citizens who ask questions about the safety of our tap water.

Indeed, rather than investigate the facts and questions which I presented in my article (March 2) about deficiencies at the Water Services Corporation, the WSC chairman's reply was to simply categorise all my criticism and grievances as "misleading allegations". In keeping with his priorities, Mr Falzon's reply focused on political attacks on the Malta Labour Party.

Mr Falzon also dismisses my claim that "little is being done to improve the quality of our tap water" and asks me to "glean" the WSC annual document presented to parliament which includes the WSC 2003 report on water production and quality. This report offers an overview of the quality of our tap water by listing chemical parameters which show that, with the exception of chloride, fluoride and nitrate, none of the many toxic chemicals listed exceeds the respective EU thresholds (Directive 98/83/EC) in our tap water.

I have gleaned even deeper than that and found that the WSC 2003 report presented to pacify parliament only shows results of tap water tested by the Institute of Water Technology, the technical arm of the WSC. However, another more covert WSC report was issued in 2000, this time showing independent test results on tap water by an Italian company, which lists many more toxic chemicals exceeding EU thresholds in our drinking water. Chemicals in our tap water exceeding EU limits in 2000 include boron, bromate, chromium, cyanide and ammonium!

It is distressing to know that Mr Falzon had failed to inform the public about the alarming presence of toxic chemicals (probably from industrial effluent) identified in the damning 2000 WSC report. He persists by failing to inform us about the action taken, if any, to eliminate these toxic chemicals from our tap water over a very short period of time, so as to make them seem inconspicuous in the publicised 2003 report. Indeed, parliament has not heard or read of any action taken, albeit experience shows that water sources contaminated with industrial effluent may take decades to remedy. Meanwhile, Mr Falzon thinks that he can console the public's apprehension by making more political attacks on the MLP!

The attitude of the WSC chairman raises many questions. Why is the chairman avoiding questions on water quality? Could this sudden improvement in water quality in 2003 be the result of manipulation of data? Was this condoned by the chairman? Was this manipulation conveniently timed just before Malta's accession to the EU? In view of all this, I stand by my claim that little has been done to effectively improve the dismal quality of our tap water.

Meanwhile, the regulator for water, the chairman of the Malta Resources Authority, chose to remain silent. His apathy deprives citizens and parliament from independent monitoring of the quality of our tap water.

Mr Falzon's statement in the 2003 WSC annual report does not tackle the problem of groundwater contamination. Instead, he assures us that the solution is to dilute contaminated water with reverse osmosis water. The EU maxim on this approach is "dilution is not the solution"!

The contamination of tap water can be averted by increasing on-site monitoring of the distribution system and groundwater sources. To our dismay, the contrary is happening. At a recent press conference announcing the timely introduction of telemetry, Mr Falzon and Minister Austin Gatt confirmed that regular on-site checking by WSC personnel is now being curtailed. The minister also aired his theory that efficiency at WSC will improve by decreasing the workforce, resulting in even less monitoring.

The WSC 2003 annual report printed on glossy paper has more to it than what meets the eye. The reticence and apathy shown by entities and regulatory authorities set up by the PN government with taxpayers' money fortifies Labour's will to continue to do its duty towards citizens by uncovering facts which chairmen with a political agenda try to camouflage.

Mr Mizzi is the Labour Party's main spokesman for infrastructural services.