Mellieħa sewage treatment plant launched... again

A sewage treatment plant at Iċ-Ċumnija in Mellieħa was yesterday launched for the second time since October.

The plant, which will cater for the waste generated by about 30,000 people in the north, had already been announced last October, in statements the government had made when the facility started operating.

A statement on October 7 had announced that the plant started operating in the last weeks of September. Yesterday, it was "inaugurated" by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

The plant, worth €10.7 million, is funded by the Italian financial protocol and is the second of three waste treatment plants, which should have been completed by 2007 according to EU-imposed deadlines.

The first, in Gozo, was commissioned early last year and works started on the third and biggest plant at Ta' Barkat in Żabbar, border with Xgħajra, which is expected to be completed next year. These were funded by the EU and subject to penalties due to delays in reaching the 2007 deadline.

No penalties were incurred in the case of the Mellieħa project because it was financed by the Italian protocol.

An Infrastructure Ministry spokesman defended the double inauguration and explained that several months had to elapse between the October launch and yesterday's inauguration since operators had to ensure all worked well before the plant was commissioned.

Once all three plants start operating, for the first time in hundreds of years, Malta will be treating its sewage before disposing of it at sea, the Prime Minister said at the inauguration. He said the projects were important not only in view of Malta's international commitments but especially for reasons of health, environmental protection and promotion of the tourism product.

Water Services Corporation chairman Louis Giordimaina explained that the Mellieħa plant was in line with the EU's Waste Water Directive and treated waste water by converting it into second class water through a three-stage process. It will be processing 6,700 cubic meters of sewage a day.

Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt elaborated that, contrary to what had been said by the opposition, delays in the projects did not result in the loss of EU funds.

The Mellieħa plant was funded by the Italian financial protocol and was the smallest of the three with a contract value of €10.7 million. Dr Gatt said the project had only gone over budget by one per cent and had exceeded its timeframe by a month.

He said the third plant posed the largest challenge as it was the biggest one, worth €78 million. All phases had started and it seemed to be on target, he said.

Dr Gatt added that a study was being carried out by the WSC on the viability of treating the sewage further so that it could be used for agricultural purposes, among other things, and not be disposed of at sea.

He confirmed that, from next year, taxpayers would have to fork out an additional tariff to cover the cost of sewage service 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 a full-cost recovery from taxpayers.