Labour slams government for inaction on water management

The government is in a state of panic after realising it is not managing water in a sustainable manner, the Labour opposition spokesman for farming and fishing, Joseph M. Sammut, said, warning of dire consequences for agriculture.

Since signing the Sustainable Development protocol in Rio De Janeiro in 1992, the government has not taken any measure to address the acute water problem, he charged. Moreover, after signing the Kyoto protocol, centred around climate change, the government has not even built reservoirs to collect rainwater.

As a result, Dr Sammut said, farmers will face further difficulties when it comes to water and this would lead to the end of agriculture.

The statement follows an announcement by Rural Development Minister George Pullicino of a 12-month moratorium on applications and permits for new boreholes, which today remain prone to rampant and unsustainable abuse.

According to the government's own statistics, in fact, extraction of ground water is estimated at about 34 million cubic metres a year, 11 million cubic metres more than the Malta Resources Authority's recommendations for sustainable extraction.

The government plans to draw up a strategic plan on water production that ensures sustainability and part of the process involves the notification of boreholes drilled since 1997.

But with the current proposals for increasing water and electricity tariffs, some have raised the prospect of illegal extraction increasing until the government brings the situation under control.