Magħtab, Qortin unsuitable for golf courses - British expert

A British engineering firm that had studied the rehabilitation of Malta's dumps yesterday dismissed Labour leader Alfred Sant's proposal to transform Magħtab and Il-Qortin into stand-alone golf courses.

The engineering and management consultancy group Scott Wilson plc was responsible for a study in 2004 entitled Development Of Rehabilitation Strategies For Magħtab, Qortin And Wied Fulija Landfills.

Contacted by The Times, a Scott Wilson expert who worked on the Malta study said the two sites mentioned are not suitable for golf course development due to various technical reasons including their small size, the shape of the terrain and their hazardous contents.

"There are a number of technical reasons why developing golf courses at either site would be impractical, chief among these is the relative size of the sites," Scott Wilson consultant Barry Gore said from his London office.

"My understanding is that a full 18-hole golf course requires some 160 hectares of land, while a smaller one (9-hole) will require slightly less than half of this.

"Magħtab, the significantly larger site, is only some 30 hectares and so would be unsuitable for even a smaller golf course," he said.

Mr Gore insisted that there are other reasons why both Magħtab and Il-Qortin are non-starters.

"The majority of the land area of each of the landfill sites, around 90 per cent of the total of each area, lies at very steep slope angles that preclude them from being available for golf."

Scott Wilson experts pointed out that the environmental control systems already installed at each site in order to manage gas emissions would not be conducive to active recreational activity, at least for the next 10 years.

"Additionally, there is a requirement for the land to stabilise further for a number of years before it would be safe to allow public access," Mr Gore insisted.

The Scott Wilson report, considered to be the most comprehensive technical study ever commissioned on Malta's former rubbish dumps, was issued in March 2004 and served as a basis for the development of a comprehensive waste strategy.

The report made it clear that the extensive uncontrolled overfilling over the years had limited the options of rehabilitation at these sites.

Asked whether he had consulted any technical reports before proposing to develop Magħtab and Il-Qortin into golf courses, Dr Sant said a detailed technical study would be prepared once Labour was in office.

He dismissed the opinion that the land gradients at Magħtab and Il-Qortin make the development of golf courses impossible, stating this "could be changed and levelled according to what is needed for golf."

The MLP leader said that before coming out with his proposals, he consulted the Scott Wilson report.

"Labour would put over the site a good membrane with the proper vents and not sow turf in methane and gas," Dr Sant said.