Anger as smelly sewage wades into homes, streets

When sewers spewed animal carcasses drenched in blood onto the streets of Albert Town last week, it was a stark reminder of the problems Malta is facing with its drainage system.

While sewage overflows in Marsa have been raised in Parliament, The Sunday Times has received letters from residents in areas like Kappara and Fgura, complaining of rivers of sewage on the streets and even flooding their homes.

In the past few years, over €98 million has been spent on sewage treatment (refer to timeline). In last week's Budget speech, the government allocated €30 million for sewage services and from next year, tariffs will be imposed on this 'service'.

This offers no consolation to Kappara resident Joseph Xuereb who is still recovering from being showered with sewage inside his home. The 81-year-old showed The Sunday Times the damage he suffered from the "traumatic" experience:

"The sewage was coming out with such force that we had to stand back because we were being soaked... it was a disaster. I had (faeces) all over my house. You can't imagine the stench."

Due to a blocked manhole, the pipes running from his bathroom to the sewage system sent the material in the wrong direction and into his home, spewing vile liquid out of the toilet. It quickly filled the entire ground floor, including the kitchen, with three inches of excrement. Major damage was caused to the dining room - the furniture and sofas had to be washed thoroughly while the fitted carpet was thrown away.

Mr Xuereb said the WSC came to the scene and flushed out the main public sewer with pressurised water. "They had the audacity to tell me that I am safe for a year, which implies that I can expect a repeat performance... I wrote to the WSC but got no reaction," he added.

The Infrastructure Ministry counters complaints with replies that lay the blame on illegal dumping.

A spokesman for the Infrastructure Ministry told The Sunday Times: "Some €30 million will be allocated for the South Sewage Project for 2010... The application for EU funds was for €70 million, of which €21 million will be disbursed in 2009. The main elements covered by this project are the Rinella-Barkat gallery, the Rinella pumping station, and the South Sewage Treatment Plant. All projects should be completed in 2010."

Timeline: The sewage saga

Before EU membership in 2004 Malta asks for a transition period until March 2007 to bring sewage treatment in line with requirements. The government announces plans for three plants - one in Gozo, one in Mellieħa and another in Xagħjra.

January 2008 - The €8 million sewage treatment plant at Ras il-Ħobż in Gozo is inaugurated. The ministry admits the project is 15 months late and lost €150,000 in funding as a result. The Water Services Corporation has to pay an additional €1.7 million for variations from the contract. Till today, raw sewage is pumped into the sea in Għarb because the pumping station there is not yet built.

October 2008 - The €10.7 million sewage treatment plant at Iċ-Ċumnija in Mellieħa, funded by the Italian financial protocol, is said to be ready. The plant is designed to cater for the waste of about 30,000 households in the north. The Infrastructure Ministry promises a full inauguration within a few weeks.

March 2009 - It takes five months for the Mellieħa sewage treatment plant to be inaugurated after encountering several problems including a flooding of the water table with sewage, to the detriment of farmers whose crops in the surrounding fields had to be destroyed. They are promised compensation, which has so far not been forthcoming.

April 2009 - The Sunday Times witnesses a massive stretch of brown filth on the surface of the sea beneath the Mellieħa sewage treatment plant operated by Polidano Group and IBI Idrobioimpianti SPA. The Infrastructure Ministry blames pig farms and directs them to dump animal waste in the South Catchment Area - the one that still pumps raw sewage into the sea.

August 2009 - The WSC promises to start work on the construction of the pumping station at Għarb in Gozo the following month but gives no indication when it will be finished. The enlargement of the Marsa pumping station in Malta is ongoing.

November 2009 - The government remains in breach of EU law more than two years after its deadline. The plants were financed by the EU and are subject to penalties for delays. Most of Malta's sewage is still being pumped, untreated, into the sea in the south until the treatment plant there is operating - scheduled for next year. There are still no timelines on treatment plants for farmyard waste - this waste is either dumped into the sewage system, causing blockages and outflows, or dumped in the open environment, often close to residences (see letter on page 17).

2010 - EU countries are expected to stop subsidising sewage disposal. Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt has confirmed the imposition of tariffs on sewage services next year.