Chamber of Planners urges EIS for water plant

The Malta Chamber of Planners is in favour of setting up a water treatment plant in the area known as ta' Barkat, in Xghajra, but said such a project - given its scale and siting - required an environment impact statement.

Late last year, the government announced it would build a Lm27 million plant in the area that would be up and running by 2008. The plant is to filter 80 per cent of the sewage generated by Malta.

The chamber questioned the need for the project to take such a big footprint especially since it was to be situated within a relatively unspoilt stretch of coastline between Xghajra and Marsascala. It noted that the proposed project was sited along a slope in the proximity of Fort St Leonard, a historical military gem which defined the area, and a few metres away from a recently scheduled property known as Il-Kunvent or Id-Dar tas-Soru. The chamber said it would like to see a thorough public consultation exercise with the intense involvement of the Xghajra, Zabbar and Marsascala councils.

Issues such as site selection, project components and aspects, mitigation measures and assessment of both construction and operational phases of the proposed plant should be tackled early and transparently to ensure that the Sant'Antnin waste recycling plant saga was not relived, it said.