Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt yesterday delivered a strong warning to road maintenance contractors and to those supervising their works that he would take what he called "drastic action" as from next month if the citizen is not respected and put at the forefront of their actions.

Winding up the debate in Parliament on the Water Services Corporation's 2009 estimates, Dr Gatt referred to criticism on trenches which were left open for weeks in various localities, sometimes even without adequate signage, and on shoddy patching of roads after repairs on water mains.

He referred to open trenches in St Christopher Street and Treasury Street in Valletta and in the Mosta-Bidnija road as examples where quality was lacking and those supervising the work were failing in their duty. He had sent e-mails to Enemalta regarding the works in Treasury Street. Coordination meetings had been held but nothing happened. "This is a shame," he said.

Minister Gatt warned that if things continued this way he was prepared to call in foreign contractors and take disciplinary action against those in the middle management who faltered in their supervision duties.

Some in middle management were comfortable that works were acceptable. He was not prepared to continue tolerating such attitudes and declared he would defend engineers who would fire faulty contractors even if procedures were broken. The citizen had to be respected, he said. In contrast, Dr Gatt said, safety signs were in place and functioning in areas where works were being carried out on the Marsascala Bypass. Auditors were checking every week that standards were adhered to.

Dr Gatt started his winding up by saying that it was ironic for Dr Sant to quote Cyprus as a model for Malta, when an article by NBC in the morning revealed that Cyprus was importing water. The country's reservoirs were just seven per cent full, and people had been surviving on meagre rations since March. There was no better proof that the opposition had no idea of what it was saying.

Some persisted in claiming the corporation was not reaching its targets. The policy implemented by Nationalist governments had not reached its targets in the first year, but had evolved over the years, and had very obviously succeeded in what it had set out to do. The fact that the government did not think twice about making the necessary investments, coupled with Maltese engineers who were respected worldwide, had reaped its benefits, and Malta had no problems in the sector.

Today's major challenge was treating the water in a holistic manner, while efficiently ensuring the product was not lost in the system, and that the water being treated went back into the system.

Dr Sant had said all water in Gozo came from an aquifer, but this was certainly not true, he said. Even if the government had wanted to do this, it would have been impossible because it contained too many nitrates. Water from the aquifer had to be mixed with water from the reverse osmosis, and then polished, to be up to EU standards.

He was also surprised to hear Dr Sant say the government should be giving farmers water which was treated at Għajnsielem for free. The government had never asked them for money. Besides, the water was not treated.

The next step, he said, was to treat water at the second stage, so that it could be used for agriculture. Then it would be tested at the third stage, so that it could re-enter the system. For this to happen more funds had to be invested in treatment plants, yet all these investments had to make economic sense, he said. He sincerely hoped Dr Sant would not argue that the water should be given to the farmers for free, no matter the cost, as someone would ultimately have to make good for this cost.

On the quality of the ground water table, he said that a lot of investment had to be made on reverse osmosis plants due to the heavy extraction from the water table before 1987. Hundreds of years would have to pass before the ground water table could be fully replenished.

Dr Gatt said that at present production of water was made up of 45 per cent ground water and 55 per cent desalinated water. This would not change for years.

Turning to the treatment of waste water, the minister said the first plant in Gozo had opened 18 months ago and the Mellieħa plant had opened six months ago. The Ta' Bakrat plant was to open in 2010.

WSC engineers were conducting technological studies on the treatment of effluent waste water up to a second level for agricultural use and replenishing the aquifer. The financial aspect was also being given attention. The engineers were also considering the third level of treating waste water so that it could be used as potable water. One was still talking of bench studies, as these had not been tested. But the conclusions arrived at from the two studies on the Gozo and Mellieħa plants were giving good indications.

He said the sewage master plan had been updated and the government had to decide what massive investment had to be made if Malta needed a modern sewage system. It was difficult to attract workers to water repair and sewage works. The choice was between WSC carrying out repair works and entering into a public-private partnership with private contractors exploiting new repair methods.

The corporation was fulfilling its mission and facing future challenges. With the water system becoming more sophisticated, one had to spend more money. It was not possible to upgrade levels and adhere to the EU directive without financial investment. This had to be financed through taxation or tariffs.

The corporation's mission was to give adequate water supply and collect waste water effectively and treat it up to European levels. Last year the corporation had raised levels with the whole cost of production decreasing by 20 per cent through the use of advanced technological systems and the engineers' good reputation in using RO technology.

Introducing the estimates, Dr Gatt said that last year, even if the corporation had continued to reduce its expenses, it had still produced better water and reduced unaccounted-for losses from production.

The corporation's engineers had reduced its consumption of electricity for the production of water, which was a major cost, from 5.8c to 4.7c per kilowatt-hour for the production of one cubic metre of water.

The corporation was an example of excellence and good management. Although there were times when the corporation had required a subsidy of even €50 million from the government, this had been greatly cut down through good management and investment without necessitating loss of employment. The corporation received a subsidy of €30 million - €22 million from the central budget and €8 million considered as a loss. Most of this subsidy was used for waste management treatment.

Moreover, there was a €175 million subsidy (of which €30 million subsidised water consumption and €145 million subsidised electricity consumption) for the subsidisation of all consumption, not only that of the 30,000 families who truly deserved such subsidy. Dr Gatt reiterated this was socially wrong.

Had the tariffs not been revised, consumption would have required between €80 and €100 million a year, which would mean a heavy deficit. Although the revised tariffs may have shocked some, one had to consider whether the country could afford such an annual subsidy.

The corporation's accounts indicated that the losses were incurred because the tariffs did not reflect consumption costs. Operating costs had decreased by €10 million, which partly reflected the pay of about 100 employees who had gone back to the public service. Yet, the corporation had managed to provide an even better service.

As regards water loss, the corporation aimed to reach the ideal infrastructural leakage index (ILI) target level of two by the end of this year. This had already been reached in Gozo and in the south of Malta. The north and central parts of Malta remained problematic. The difficulties being encountered in the central part of Malta were consequent to the careless disposal of water by hotels and also reflected the high density of the population in this area. In the north, the main reason for loss of water was pipeline damage.

Minister Gatt said the smart meters project would not only produce more efficient calculation of electricity consumption, but with the placement of probes, water consumption would also be better calculated.

Water quality was continually tested in the corporation's laboratory.

Waste water (drainage) management had been transferred to the corporation only four years ago, but great strides had already been made: 30 per cent of waste water was treated to even better standards than that required by the EU before its disposal into the sea. Difficulties were still faced in the Mellieħa plant because cattle breeders in the area did not have their own waste treatment system but disposed of swill into the drainage infrastructure.

The Barcelona targets would be reached with the development of the biggest waste water treatment plant at Ta' Bakrat, between Xgħajra and Marsascala, which would treat about 70 per cent of waste water.

The technology of membrane bio-reactors was also being tested at the corporation's headquarters. It was aimed to produce clear water for those small communities which were spread out over the islands.

A full cycle water treatment plant was also planned which would allow the production of treated waste water to be adequately disposed at sea, mixed with ground water or partly returned to reservoirs.

A survey of the water system infrastructure had indicated that this required a complete revamping to modernise it.

Concluding, Minister Gatt called for better monitoring of the uncontrolled use of underground water, which caused problems of salinity. There were also instances where this water was extracted without payment by a few who then sold it to others at a price.

Opposition spokeswoman on utilities Marlene Pullicino said she had been surprised to hear Minister Gatt say that the opposition had never tried to tackle the water cost problem. Besides the fact that when the Labour government of 1996-98 had started to tackle the problem the PN had put party before country, the opposition had always maintained that the Nationalist administration had dragged its feet for 10 years to tackle the problem. If it had not delayed so long the people would not have had to recieve such a shock as the sudden increase in utility tariffs.

Dr Pullicino said the government had attacked people's pockets at the most inopportune time, and it was still losing out on taxes on sales because people's purchasing power had been drastically reduced.

The opposition also wanted full recovery of the water production costs, but not payment for inefficiencies. Dr Gatt had mentioned a number of very useful projects, but what had the government been waiting for?

At a time of drastic climate change, the WSC's role was becoming ever more important. Things should be managed through a long-term integrated plan that considered the various sources of water and their use.

As things now stood, most rainwater was allowed to run off into the sea. Valleys had become so built up that not even strategic waterways had been left intact. The blame could not be laid at the door of any particular administration.

Dr Pullicino said the concrete mass now covering the Maltese islands did not encourage the replenishment of the aquifers, so the water table was drying up. She suggested the construction of bottomless reservoirs that would allow collected water to seep down to the aquifers. Housing units must also be made to include wells. But the best way to control the run-off would continue to be the implementation of the storm-water project that the 1996-98 Labour administration had taken in hand, and which had not yet been implemented.

If timely steps were taken without any further delay, it would mean that Malta would not depend almost totally on desalination, which would become even costlier whenever the price of oil escalated.

Dr Pullicino said that the EU Water Framework Directive demanded that Malta have adequate ground water supplies in both quality and quantity by 2015. Extraction from the water table must not exceed input, and this was especially important in Malta where depletion of the aquifers would be taken over by seawater.

Ground water supplies in Malta had suffered not only from over-exploitation but also from the excessive use of pesticides and other toxic substances. Given this state of affairs, how was it that the WSC's reports on water quality always came up with excellent results?

Dr Pullicino said the nitrates directive included measures to protect water sources from pesticides. But was health really being put at the forefront? Tap water in many areas was undrinkable, even though its quality fell within required parameters.

Under the premiership of Dom Mintoff, Malta had taken the first steps to follow the worldwide trend of recycling water, with the inauguration of the Sant' Antnin plant for treating second-class water for irrigation purposes.

The investment made in Gozo and Mellieħa to treat waste water before it went into the sea was a step in the right direction under the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive.

The corporation still needed to make huge investments to produce clean ground water and it was hoped that maximum advantage would be taken of available EU funds for timely help.

Investment was also needed to ensure that Malta's and Gozo's excellent bays would not be sullied by run-off. As things stood now, treated second-class water was still lost to the sea because farmers used only a small part of it. If ways could be found for further purification, such water could yet be used by households for non-potable purposes, thus further reducing the waste and the use of first-class water.

Dr Pullicino said there existed no infrastructure for second-class water to get to homes, so facilities should be made available in the meantime for them to receive it at reduced prices.

The plumbing concept of housing units should be altered to allow the use of water running off rooftops in washing machines and toilets, for example. Plumbers must be educated towards this end, while Mepa should do its own part to ensure that housing units have their own catchment areas.

It was a fact that the country planned for the macro while overlooking the potential of the micro contribution to the solution of a problem, she said.

In the meantime, at least until the advent of alternative energy, reverse osmosis plants must be made more efficient if at all possible, both because of fuel costs and because of emissions and for the sake of having better air quality all around.

The best and cheapest way for water production would always continue to be the reduction of waste and inefficiencies. "Kull qatra tgħodd" (Every drop counts) must be a continuous campaign, but the government should also continue to be a source of good example to the people. The control of leakages in Malta was still lagging behind Gozo, but efficiency in this direction could still be enhanced.

Dr Pullicino said the quality of service of the corporation was also important. In 1996-98 Labour had set up a unit to avoid people having to run around the government departments involved in works, but the system now needed to be made more focused and coordinated.

The problem of having mains in the middle of roads had still not been solved. A certain level of efficiency and speed had been achieved in the provision of electricity, but it was still an uphill struggle where drainage was concerned, with the standard excuse being a big backlog. One should remember that the provision of drainage services affected the timing of a family's moving into its new residence.

In the agricultural sector, if water did not get to farmers at an affordable price the sector would cease to be competitive.

Concluding, Dr Pullicino said it was understandable that WSC tariffs must be at the right level to recover cost of production, but a focus must also be kept on the best possible service and ensuring healthy water supplies at all times.

The estimates were approved by 30 votes in favour and 29 votes against after the opposition called a division.

Other speakers who took part in the debate will be reported later.