FOI officials call on MLP

FOI PRESIDENT Adrian Bajada, accompanied by council member and Environment Committee chairman Godwin C. Micallef, director general Wilfred Kenely and Environment Committee member Mary Gaerty met top officials of the Malta Labour Party at MLP Headquarters on December 22.

The federation presented its comments on the discussion document issued by the Malta Labour Party on the Environmental Policy for Malta. Following an exchange of views on the local economy's current situation, FOI officials gave Labour leader Alfred Sant, who was accompanied by the party's main spokesman for industry and public investment Chris Agius and MLP spokesman for the Environment and National Patrimony Roderick Galdes, its views on this discussion document.

The FOI officials said that the federation fully agreed that Government should be at the forefront and lead by example where the environment was concerned. It is a fact, not only in environmental regulations, that Government is very strict in imposing its policy on major firms in industry and turns a 'blind eye' when it involves its various departments, authorities and parastatal companies.

When referring to the 'polluter pays' principle as being a solution to the waste management problem, the FOI officials stressed that it would be unreasonable to apply this principle to enterprises that already apply strict environmental policies. The 'polluter pays' principle should not be implemented haphazardly. Industry expects that there will be a level playing field in the application of the principle and that the authorities will not pick mainly on major players.

It has to be made amply clear that there must be clear scientific procedures to establish who the polluter is before the law takes its natural course. Furthermore, the officials repeated the federation's position against the implementation of any form of additional tax, especially when it does not help to solve environmental problems.

The officials also expressed the federation's views on land reclamation. "We have been suggesting this policy as a solution to the construction and development waste for a number of years," they said. The FOI believes that the filling of quarries is a very temporary solution and land reclamation should be implemented without further delay.

The FOI has always insisted that the environment is so important that it should have an authority of its own. The FOI officials stressed that they could not agree that the environment department would form part of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA).

The officials explained: "In most countries there is an environmental agency where all stakeholders are represented on the board of management." Furthermore, it was noted that the business community is not even represented on the Commission for Sustainable Development.

The FOI officials also clearly disagreed with paragraph 11.8 of the MLP document, for the federation has always considered waste-to-energy as an option. With Malta not having enough land to make engineered landfills and the country's main sources of energy - fossil fuel - coming at a high cost, the FOI strongly believes that the ideal solution is waste-to-energy.

With new and very strict EU regulations waste-to-energy facilities produce clean, renewable energy. This has also been confirmed by the US Environment Protection Agency. Waste is reduced by 90 per cent and most of the remaining 10 per cent can also be recyclable. Furthermore, as the cost of energy has reached very high levels and has become an extensive burden for industry, the FOI urges Government to encourage the use of alternative energy and to subsidise initiatives by industry in this alternative energy.

While discussing the generation and disposal of hazardous waste, the FOI Environment Committee chairman also touched on the federation's involvement in assisting the Malta Standards Authority (MSA) to prepare Malta's position on the EU REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorisation of Chemicals) legislation.

Mr Micallef said that the FOI regretted to note that, although a proposal by Malta and Slovenia was accepted by the EU Council, the MLP's Members of the European Parliament voted against certain amendments, although these were also recommended by the Socialists. This 'hard line' approach could have had serious repercussions to industry in Malta.

During the meeting, both bodies stressed that environmental education was very important. FOI officials reported that some private firms had taken the initiative to deliver lectures on the environment in schools; FOI Environment Committee members are frequently invited to give presentations on the environment. The FOI has been organising seminars and workshops for over 10 years to bring awareness about various environmental aspects to its members.

Prior to the meeting's conclusions, the FOI officials asked why the MLP discussion document did not mention Government-owned company Wasteserv Ltd, which was set up to administer waste that was not being managed by the private sector. The FOI officials voiced its members' concerns that Wasteserv Ltd obtains EU funding and is now competing with the private sector on various waste management services.