Extra charge for sewage possible

Taxpayers will soon have to fork out an additional tariff to cover the full cost of sewage services; ominous news for those worrying about the recent rise in water and electricity rates.

Worse news is that water users might have to pay extra due to EU-imposed deadlines that the government has missed. Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt confirmed last week that a sewage tariff would be introduced from next year, as the government comes in line with the EU's Water Framework Directive.

The directive gives EU countries a 2010 deadline to stop subsidising the collection, treatment and disposal of sewage. It calls for full-cost recovery from taxpayers.

The bulk of this cost is to treat sewage before it can be disposed of into the sea. This must be done through specialised plants that require millions of euros to be developed.

For the most part, the construction of such facilities is meant to be paid for by the EU but Malta has already missed several deadlines and is running the risk of being fined and losing the funds altogether. In that case, the taxpayers will also have to pay for the investment rather than just the running costs and operations.

The deadline for the construction of the plants was last year but so far only two small sewage treatment plants were built: one in Gozo and one for the north of Malta.

A third, which will cater for the south, was planned for what is now the SmartCity site in Ricasoli, so these plans had to change, delaying the construction considerably. It has been relocated to Ta' Barkat, Żabbar and this shift may result in a larger cost than planned.

The Sunday Times revealed last May that the EU was threatening to withhold the funds due to the delays.

"All three projects had to be completed by March 2007. The Gozo plant was inaugurated only last January, the one at Ċumnija in Mellieħa is still under construction and the south plant has not even started being built. This is very serious and we are considering taking action, including withholding some or all of the EU funds dedicated to this project," sources close to the European Commission had said.

However, a spokesman for the Infrastructure Ministry said that Malta was "not too late" and that funds for the first two plants were secured while negotiations were ongoing for part-financing of the third plant.

This plant is estimated to cost €57 million and according to the spokesman works are in their initial stages. The plant is expected to be completed within an 18-month timeframe.

He added that it was too early to speculate on the rates of the tariffs, adding that a detailed analysis was under way.

According to hydrologist and environmentalist Marco Cremona, the sewage tariff may be substantial, especially if taxpayers must make up for lost EU funds. He said that, in some European countries, the sewage tariff is even higher than the cost of potable water. But this may not necessarily be the case for Malta because a significant amount of potable water comes from expensive reverse osmosis plants and not from rivers and lakes, as is the case in mainland Europe.

Mr Cremona pointed out that, since the government will not be investing in infrastructure to reuse the treated sewage, the tariffs will only cover the cost of treating the sewage for disposal into the sea.

He predicted that another tariff will eventually be introduced to cover the cost of waste collection and disposal and treatment of solid waste, something the government is subsidising.

The government was investing heavily in solid waste infrastructure, such as landfills and waste treatment plants, through EU funds but the taxpayers would eventually have to pay for their running and maintenance costs, Mr Cremona noted.

"The situation with the Water Services Corporation and WasteServ is no different from that of Enemalta and I expect a similar uproar from consumers and social partners when they are faced with these new tariffs. Unfortunately, the government is keeping everybody in the dark on these issues. There is no discussion or consultation taking place," he concluded.

cperegin@timesofmalta.com