Dumping sites report findings to be released 'in coming weeks'

The final results of the much awaited Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick report, which should give an X-ray of the island's three dumping sites, ought to be released in the coming weeks, according to WasteServ chief executive officer Vince Magri.

The two remaining stages of the four-phase programme - dealing with the specifications and implementation of the scientific results - will be jointly released with a two-year tender to start rehabilitating Maghtab and Qortin, which were closed on May 1, and Wied Fulija, which ceased to be operational in 1995.

It was confirmed last week that Malta would receive €8.4 million to cover the tender, which will entail the provision of the gas treatment compound, the transfer of technology and training of staff.

The government had come under fire for not releasing the Scott Wilson report earlier. However, Mr Magri defended the decision in an interview and said the report and tender had to be released at the same time.

He explained that first and foremost the tender could not be released until the post-accession EU funds were confirmed.

"Apart from that, the tender is Europe-wide so releasing any specifications of the report beforehand would have put European contractors at a disadvantage. We would have also risked being disqualified and lost the funds in the process," Mr Magri explained. The tender is expected to be awarded in June.

The report was carried out by the British company Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & Company Ltd that forms part of the world renowned Scott Wilson Consultancy Group.

The report's scientific profile on the three landfills, released in November 2002, showed that potentially hazardous materials were present in all three, yet no liquid leachate was identified in any of them.

Despite closing the landfills, Malta was still facing the repercussions of landfill fires, releasing hazardous emissions.

"Of course, since May 1 we stopped adding fuel to the fire and the emissions have stabilised. However, it could take up to 30 years for the fires to die out completely if there is no intervention," he said.

Mr Magri said that in the past months WasteServ had been laying the groundwork for the eventual collection and treatment of these emissions.

The tender will involve drilling over 600 wells into the landfills to siphon out these hazardous emissions, which will be treated in the gas treatment compound and could in turn be exploited for electrical or gas energy. Mr Magri said that when Maghtab was closed down, waste was being deposited at the temporary Ta' Zwejra waste storage facility - situated at the entrance of Maghtab and covering an area of 25,000 square metres.

All the waste cells at Ta' Zwejra ought to be closed and sealed by November and the long-term engineered landfill at Ghallis would then become operational.

Mr Magri pledged that Ghallis, which is undergoing an environmental impact assessment, would not be another mount Maghtab and the landfill would be terraced.

If Maghtab had not been closed on May 1 and continued accepting waste until the end of last year as originally stipulated in the solid waste management strategy it would have soared by another seven storeys.

This strategy, commissioned by the European Commission and submitted in 2001, had been agreed upon by all the stakeholders.

Mr Magri said it was comforting to know that the government had allocated Lm7.2 million, on top of EU funds, towards achieving the set goals.

"I can confidently say we can deliver and make this system function together with the bring-in sites and civic amenities," he said.

WasteServ has €4.6 million allocated to set up six civic amenity sites for the separation of bulky refuse and to increase the number of bring-in sites to 300 across Malta and Gozo, from the present 50.

"I am confident that with goodwill we can succeed," he said.