The long and winding road to Sant'Antnin (1)

July 1998: To alleviate the concerns of the South, George Vella, former Labour Minister for the Environment, applied the EcoPod process at Sant' Antnin. This essentially involves the bagging of mixed waste in 60-metre-long plastic tubes which is then left to rot for a period of eight weeks before it is landfilled. In view of his success, Dr Vella set up a task force that recommended that by August 1999 the Sant' Antnin composting plant is "to accept 100 per cent mixed Malta waste (that is, 250,000 tonnes per annum) for mechanical separation".

August 1998: The Times reported that the Sant' Antnin plant had been modernised so efficiently that "the government was hoping to eventually recycle all the household waste at the Sant' Antnin plant". The Times reported also that for this to occur more space at Sant' Antnin had to be allocated and that a total investment of Lm36,000 was required.

September 1998: Labour loses the election and the plans for Sant' Antnin are not implemented.

October 2001: The Solid Waste Management Strategy For The Maltese Islands was published and is described as the best public consultation exercise ever carried out by the government to tackle a national concern. The document takes on board input from all constituted bodies, the political parties and the public. The document recommends upgrading the Sant' Antnin facility to treat an annual 250,000 tonnes of waste (page 68).

April 2003: In the last electoral manifesto Nifs Gdid... Nifs Nadif (Fresh Breath... Healthy Breath), Alternattiva Demokratika stated: "Ghandu jkun zgurat li l-impjant tar-riciklagg ta' l-iskart organiku solidu f'Sant'Antnin ikun immodernizzat biex jilqa' ghall-isfidi ta' programm serju u mifrux ta' riciklagg" (It must be ensured that the Sant' Antnin facility for the treatment of solid organic waste be upgraded to meet the challenges of a rigorous and widespread recycling programme).

May 2003: Tasked with implementing the Solid Waste Management Strategy of 2001, WasteServ Malta Ltd, the government agency responsible for setting up waste management infrastructure, issued a Project Description Statement to upgrade Sant' Antnin for public consultation. The Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) requested an alternative site assessment and issued the terms of reference for an environmental impact assessment (EIA).

August 2003: In reaction to WasteServ's upgrade proposal, the Marsascala local council wrote to Mepa requesting that the facility be developed according to European Union standards; that soft areas in the locality be embellished to alleviate the impacts and that gas generated on site be treated.

July 2004: The Mepa board approved the conclusions of the alternative site assessment on the basis that the environmental, agricultural and access impacts render the alternative sites unsuitable when compared to an already committed waste management site. Despite the small footprint, the proposed sites are sensitive compared to Sant' Antnin. The findings conclude that the larger the site, the larger the sensitivity. The report was sent to the Zejtun, Zabbar and Marsascala local councils. No comments were received.

September 2004: WasteServ submits a Cohesion Fund application to the European Commission to finance the upgrading of a facility to treat 35,000 tonnes of organic waste and 36,000 tonnes of recyclable waste - that is, one third of all the municipal solid waste generated in Malta.

October 2004: A first draft of the EIA is issued for consultation.

November 2004: As the minister responsible, I host the Marsascala local council at my office to explain the project to its members, and how the improved facility is set to benefit the Marsascala residents and the Maltese community at large when compared to the present facility. The Marsascala local council re-submits its letter of August 2003 to reaffirm its position that the facility may be upgraded provided the minor concerns raised by the council are addressed. During this meeting, I offered to address a public meeting to allay public fears and eradicate misconceptions even though the public consultation period on the EIA document had by now elapsed.

December 2004: The European Commission approves €16 million for the facility upgrade. At this stage, the opposition against the facility upgrade intensified.

Mr Pullicino is Minister for Rural Affairs and the Environment.