The Marsascala plant saga

Reference is made to the comments made by Vince Magri, chief executive officer of WasteServ, in an interview in The Times (January 19) under the heading WasteServ Head Defends Plant Upgrade.

The Committee Against the Recycling Plant Proposal wonders how Mr Magri chooses to defend what he calls "the plant upgrade" and at the same time ignores the repeated accusation that the process is manipulated, flawed and vitiated.

It's futile for WasteServ to continue trying to mislead the public. It is a fact that it is not an upgrade but a full development project. It is of no use for Mr Magri to persist in speaking in this manner. In essence, it is only WasteServ that is considering the proposed plant as an upgrade. Mr Magri's comments are an affront to the localities concerned.

It is a documented fact that the choice of Sant'Antnin's site for the new plant was "a foregone conclusion from the beginning". Mr Magri cannot deny this fact because he knows quite well that this was revealed by several Mepa officials. It was also revealed that the existing plant is not situated in an appropriate site, as it is too near to residential areas. That is why both WasteServ and Mepa remained mum on the dossier publication.

The committee appreciates why Mr Magri is trying to beat about the bush regarding the question of the site selection exercise. In the original application, the site plan submitted showed an area of 18,000 square metres instead of the 47,500 square metres required to accommodate the plant.

Mr Magri is fully aware that the Mepa board decided in favour of the Sant'Antnin site, in November 2004, on the mistaken premise that the plant currently covers an area of 18,000 square metres.

Mr Magri at last admitted that the Sant'Antnin recycling plant is the only plant in Malta that could process waste and generate methane gas. His statement confirms it is not true that the proposed recycling plant is a small one capable of processing only 71,000 tonnes of waste annually. It is capable of processing more than 200,000 tpa. That is why both Mr Magri and Chris Ciantar, together with Minister George Pullicino, always failed to give guarantees on this aspect.

In simple terms, the proposed plant would be accepting 71,000 tonnes initially. In fact, both Mr Ciantar and the minister stated on more than one occasion that they are not "prepared to bind future generations".

Mr Magri referred to the socio-economic aspect of the project. If Mr Magri is so sure about what he said, why is his company refusing to accept the committee's request for a serious study to be undertaken in respect of residents' health and investments?

Mr Magri failed to refer to the impact the new plant will cause on residents' health. A very important issue completely ignored by both WasteServ and Mepa. Shame on all of them!

I am sure that Mr Magri still remembers what Mr Monks, one of WasteServ's foreign consultants, had said during the public hearing held in September 2005. In that case let me remind him what he said: "The environmental health study was not carried out as it is too expensive for Malta".

Mr Magri never denied this. This was confirmed by several witnesses under oath. One day even Mr Magri would be called to confirm it under oath.

Whether WasteServ intends to start demolishing the existing plant, while proceedings are still pending, is its entire business and responsibility. Surely it would be a big blunder.