A sewage treatment plant at Ic-Cumnija (close to Anchor Bay) has been commissioned, 10 months after a similar plant was commissioned in Gozo.

The Infrastructure Ministry said the plant started operating last week and treats sewage in three phases until it is considered as being second class water. The treated sewage is then dumped into the sea but does not harm the environment

The ministry admitted that the project was completed 15 months late – mostly as a result to delays in the granting of the development permit. As a result, €150,000 from €7.97 million allocated for the project by the Italian government were lost. The Water Services Corporation has notified the consortium responsible for the project that it would act to recover this amount.

Meanwhile the contractors have submitted requests for the payment of €4.98 million for variations from the contract. The corporation has agreed to pay €1.7 million, mostly as a result of changes made necessary when MEPA changed the site of the plant after the contract was signed.

A much larger sewage treatment plant is to be built on the south-east coast of Malta, but the tender process is currently bogged down in court proceedings.