Animal blood and a deathly smell seeped out of the slaughterhouse in Marsa yesterday, mixing with rainwater and filling neighbouring streets.
Mayor Francis Debono, who alerted the media to the matter, said the overflow was caused by abattoir employees who let pieces of animal waste into the drainage system, blocking it and causing blood to surge out. This was not the first time such an overflow had occurred.
"Inside the abattoir there are meant to be grids filtering the waste but I suspect they are being removed to get rid of everything quicker," he said.
The Water Services Corporation and the Rural Affairs Ministry, in separate but very similar statements, said they were not responsible for the overflow and blamed it on "illegal dumping".
The WSC made a public appeal not to "dump any unauthorised materials such as oils, fats, cloth, straw and so on into the sewer system" and encouraged residents to report any such abuse.
"We apologise and regret what happened but it is not our fault. We acted immediately but we are not to blame," a WSC spokesman said as works were underway to wash and disinfect the area.
The ministry's statement included an apology from the abattoir's management but explained that in the slaughterhouse there were filters to purify the waste material so solid bits would not end up in the drainage system.
All the waste from the slaughterhouse is meant to be taken to the incinerator. However, after animals are killed every Monday, water is used to wash the floors and the liquid goes into the drainage system.
"However, it seems some illegal material still passed and it is not excluded this got into the system from where works were being carried out in the area," the statement read.
Mr Debono said this was a "banal excuse" and the government always seemed to blame residents and other people for the situation when the outflow clearly included animal parts that should have been filtered.
He wondered why the health and environment authorities had not yet identified who was responsible for what was happening.
He warned that should this situation be repeated, the council would take all steps according to law to safeguard the health and quality of life of its residents as well as workers in Albert Town.
An internal investigation is being carried out, with technical assistance by the WSC, for the facts to be established.
Ironically, the government has just dedicated €680,000 in the Budget to replace the chillers of the abattoir to ensure "meat is delivered according to acceptable standards".
When asked whether this meant the meat was not being delivered to acceptable standards, a ministry spokesman said the change was simply part of the planned maintenance programme.
"The abattoir is operating within acceptable EU standards," the spokesman insisted.