Steven Grech, councillor, Marsaxlokk
The south is Malta's rubbish dump
With reference to Andrea Mangion's letter Positive Moves On Waste Management (January 27), I wish to point out that Marsaxlokk and the rest of the south have become the rubbish dumps of Malta.
The residents of this village have, for more than 13 years, been inhaling toxic fumes and suffering from an alarmingly high rate of respiratory ailments due to the proximity of the Delimara power station.
The outflow from the power station into Il-Ħofra ż-Żgħira has also destroyed the Poseidonia meadows which used to grow there, thereby harming the underwater ecosystem.
No independent survey was ever carried out to study the adverse effects on health due to the power station's emissions. The government has introduced a polluter pays principle for road vehicles, and yet it is the government itself which is by far the biggest polluter in Marsaxlokk, because no filters or scrubbers were installed in the chimney stacks.
According to this principle, the government, therefore, owes Marsaxlokk compensation for 13 years of pollution.
Everyone wishes the best of health for themselves and their children.
Therefore, since we in Marsaxlokk have been giving more than our fair share, by suffering from the presence of the power station for the past 13 years, I advise Ms Mangion to do something positive and request that the incinerator be built in Siġġiewi.
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lgalea
Feb 7th 2009, 09:33
Charles Sammut
Because while Malta is a whole rubbish dump, the south is also the rubbish dump of the rest of the country.
"The sewage which is pumped out at Wied Ghammieq drifts as far as Sliema when the current is south easterly."
Think what it does to Xghajra, Wied il-Ghajn, St Thomas Bay etc.
Kenneth Cassar
Feb 6th 2009, 15:23
@ Charles Sammut:
The significant difference in property prices proves you wrong.
Peter Carabott
Feb 6th 2009, 13:21
Well said Penzo.
Charles Sammut
Feb 6th 2009, 11:02
Correction. All of Malta is a rubbish dump.
Why do people from the so called South keep whingeing. Don't they ever travel to the the other end of the island?
We have Maghtab, we also have fish farms and sewage outflows. The sea at Qalet Marku is unfit for swimming because of the pollution. Other bays regularly suffer from sewage leakage from the tourist facilities in the area.
We have concrete jungles like Bugibba/Qawra/St Paul's Bay. We have parking problems, traffic congestion and pollution. The sewage which is pumped out at Wied Ghammieq drifts as far as Sliema when the current is south easterly. This is clearly visible from the air. We also have hard stone quarries which create clouds of dust. And the roads are just as terrible.
This empty talk of South and North in an island which is not even shown on most maps is ludicrous.