AN files judicial protest over recycling plant

Azzjoni Nazzjonali yesterday filed a judicial protest arguing that the Sant'Antnin recycling plant in Marsascala should not start operating at the end of the month, as scheduled, before studies were carried out to determine the facility's impact on the environment and on people's health.

It said the plant should not start operating also because there were four pending cases: two before the Malta Environment and Planning Authority's (Mepa) appeals board and two at the law courts.

The protest was filed in the First Hall of the Civil Court against WasteServ Limited, Mepa, the Prime Minister and the Environment Minister.

AN said the Prime Minister and the Environment Minister had declared that the first phase of the recycling plant would start functioning at the end of January. In October 2005 and in January last year, two appeals had been filed before the Mepa appeals board requesting the revocation of project permits. Apart from that there were another two pending cases at the law courts. All four cases were still pending.

In December 2006, the Committee Against the Proposed Recycling Plant raised its complaints before Mepa's auditor who was asked to investigate the process that led to the issuing of the permit, AN said.

In February 2007, it was learnt that the auditor's report was complete but would not be published after Mepa filed a complaint with the Ombudsman saying that publishing the report would prejudice Mepa's case. The report remains unpublished.

The auditor's report was meant to look into whether the necessary procedures were followed by Mepa in granting the permit. These procedures included an environmental impact assessment (EIA) and a comparative study of alternative sites for the proposed plant.

AN said it was unacceptable that the EIA, that impacted people's health, was not carried out because it was deemed too expensive.

During a press conference called outside the law courts after the protest was filed, AN leader Josie Muscat referred to the billboards just set up by the Nationalist Party as part of the election campaign.

He criticised the way the Prime Minister was shown embracing the Maltese family in the billboards when his government did not want to carry out an impact assessment on the way the recycling plant would effect residents of Marsascala, because it would be too expensive. That same government spent millions of liri on Mater Dei Hospital.

Dr Muscat said AN would shortly announce its policies on alternative energy that would point out that the Sant'Antnin plant's technology was "antiquated". AN would work to put Marsascala on the tourist map for Malta, he promised.