Land reclamation - an opportunity

Waste disposal is a challenge which has to be faced by all modern societies. Over the last few years, the handling of waste in Malta has been a success story. Maghtab has been closed down and the first steps towards rehabilitation have been taken. A new landfill started operations, making the best use of modern techniques and technology. Increasingly, more waste is being separated at source, thus allowing for more recycling.

Inert waste is now being disposed of in disused quarries. It is termed inert because it is inorganic and does not contain contaminants. The bulk of waste produced in Malta is inert. Most of it comes from the building industry.

The nature of the waste problem is such that one can never lose sight of the long term. There is a limit to how many disused quarries can be used for the disposal of inert waste. Identifying new sites will always be problematic and is likely to give rise to environmental impacts which people living in the locality may consider unacceptable.

Land reclamation is therefore an alternative which merits serious consideration. An obvious advantage of constructing a reclaimed island is the large volume of inert waste that can be disposed of in this manner. But this is only one side of the story. The large volumes involved imply extended time frames for construction. This makes measures to mitigate the impacts of the construction all the more important. Long construction times also create difficulties for project financing.

The construction of marine structures is by its nature an expensive activity, more so in the open sea where the marine works will have to withstand the worst possible wave conditions.

Apart from island size, the cost of creating an artificial island depends on the depth at a given site. For it to be commercially viable, land reclamation has to be carried out in relatively shallow waters. Shallow waters, and hence proximity to the shore, will facilitate the provision of a link between the "mainland" and the reclaimed island. This is needed both during the construction phase as well as subsequently for the uses provided on the reclaimed island. Another advantage of proximity to the shore is the creation of a protected area of water which can be used as a marina.

Any land reclamation project has to be financially self-sustaining. The land use to which the reclaimed island will be put has to generate enough revenue to cover the cost of reclamation and development. Possible uses include residential, leisure and tourism-related activities. My personal preference is for land uses whose job creation potential is not limited to the short term. For example, accommodation units, each with a yachting berth, is one form of development which creates a demand for services and hence has the potential to generate jobs in the long term.

Needless to say, the impact that a reclaimed island will have on the coastal environment is a main consideration. Good seawater quality is maintained by healthy benthic habitats dominated by sea grasses and algae as they emit oxygen through photosynthesis. In turn these provide for rich communities of animal species to survive and thrive within them. Good water quality is important for a number of socio-economic activities: provision of potable water through desalination plants, provision for a good tourism and recreation product in terms of bathing water and the provision of suitable environment in which fish can thrive. The impact on the coastal environment will be one of the criteria which will determine the most appropriate location for land reclamation. Moreover, the land reclamation process will need to provide adequate safeguards so as to limit the impacts on the coastal environment to the absolute minimum.

Malta is a signatory to a number of international treaties regulating dumping at sea (the London Dumping Convention, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Barcelona Convention and their respective protocols). We will need to ensure that any decision taken will abide by Malta's international obligations.

Land reclamation is no simple task. There are countless issues that have to be considered. There is a need for a national and holistic strategy based on the understanding of the national context coupled with scientific analysis. This will ensure that decisions taken will not be limited to economic considerations but will also take into account social and environmental spin-offs.