The stand taken by the Labour Party in favour of the modernisation "but not enlargement" of the Sant'Antnin recycling plant has infuriated the committee against the plant as proposed, with some members privately considering it a shift in policy.
Members of the committee, which has filed an appeal against Mepa's decision to redevelop the plant in Marsascala, are worried that the Labour's latest stand basically leaves the committee to fight on its own, one of the disappointed members, who did not wish to be named, told The Times.
Sitting on the committee are representatives of Labour-led local councils, Alternattiva Demokratika and some NGOs.
In a statement issued issued after a meeting with the committee on Monday, the party said it "believes the Sant'Antnin recycling plant can be modernised without being enlarged".
Dr Sant confirmed the statement yesterday, adding when prompted that a smooth-running plant in Sant'Antnin would be acceptable to his party.
Over the past weeks, the MLP endorsed the committee's fight against the government's plan to have the plant redeveloped in the same spot.
In a statement issued by the party last January, Dr Sant was quoted as saying that Labour is 100 per cent and without reservations against the government's plans for the plant. "Plants should be on a regional basis and away from residential areas."
The committee's mission statement, endorsed by the MLP, AD, seven local councils and a number of NGOs, lays down that since the plant at Sant'Antnin will be rebuilt practically anew then it should be constructed in an adequate place away from residential areas.
When contacted yesterday, Dr Sant declined that there had been a policy shift, adding that it was the government that had changed its position especially on the issue of having regional recycling plants. "Up to a while ago I was being ridiculed for saying that waste management should be regionalised. Now the government is saying the same thing although I am still not convinced that Sant'Antnin will not be turned into a national plant," he said.
An environmental policy document which should be discussed today in an internal Labour conference for councillors states clearly that the implementation of such a regional policy should follow a serious environmental impact assessment which identifies the best sites where waste recycling plants should be located.
George Vella, a former deputy leader of the MLP and also a former minister responsible for the environment, said when contacted that the site selection process was "corrupt." Asked to comment about Labour's statement, Dr Vella said such questions should be addressed to whoever issued the statement.
The Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Environment has noted that the latest stand adopted by the MLP on the Sant'Antnin plant was now similar to the government's.