Mepa asks company to clear concrete from Naxxar valley

A concrete factory is being held responsible for cement that seeped from one of its batching plants into a natural valley in Naxxar.

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority filed a judicial letter holding Sammut Concrete Supplies Ltd responsible for concrete that spilled into Wied Santa Katerina.

The company has five days to pay financial compensation for the environmental damage caused and to submit a method statement of how it intends to remove the cement and rehabilitate the valley.

Mepa is also insisting on the company to build another silt trap, install machinery that recycles cement and instruct employees to clean cement accumulation and other associated by-products on a daily basis.

Mepa last year carried out a large-scale exercise to clean the valley of dried concrete wash but recently the valley was again reported to be contaminated with concrete.