Resource Minister George Pullicino told Parliament yesterday that works had started on the €7.2 million, EU-funded Marsascala family park. These include the restoration of the chapel and the structuring of the visitor centre.
Speaking during the Budget debate, the minister said that the Adventure Park in Ta’ Qali would be extended to include a farm where children could enjoy interactivity with animals. New family areas were planned to start next year, including a water park in Buġibba, a park in Xrobb l-Għaġin, an extension to the Ta’Qali park and a new family park at Delimara. The National Park would also be extended for the fourth time in five years.
The minister said €15 million would go to continue to strengthen waste management, including further development of the Wied Għallis engineered landfill complex for the storage of solvents and radioactive material.
With regard to waste separation, in the first 10 months of this year, 8,100 tons of waste were collected – a 77 per cent increase over the same period last year. Between 2008 and 2010, a total of 41,000 tons of separated waste would have been collected.
The Sant’Antnin waste plant would have three facilities and would aim at further separating waste collected from households. More than 427 containers had already been exported for recycling.
Some 7,200 tonnes of waste had been disposed of at the Marsa incinerator. About 88 per cent of all waste incinerated came from the meat industry and the rest was clinical or pharmaceutical waste.
Emissions from the incinerator were monitored and the minister said foul smells were being caused by damage in the storage apparatus and Wasteserv was developing better storage facilities for animal carcasses. The government had worked to control the emission of methane by providing incentives in relation to the use of apparatus to produce cleaner energy, and also by reforming the public transport sector.
He criticised Joe Mizzi for capriciously dismissing proposals made by the committee that had studied measures for establishing sustainability in water and said that Charles Buhagiar seemed to be marginalised by the PL even if he spoke passionately and maturely on this issue.
The government was undertaking studies to verify whether Malta could benefit from the use of wind energy and despite opposition leader Joe Muscat’s attempt to incite farmers at Wied Rini, the government had made all environment impact assessments public. The minister said the Malta Resource Authority had communicated any complaint it received on the service provided by Arms Ltd and that it was following and reviewing the situation.
Malta would be the only country in the Mediterranean that would be treating all its drainage affluent before this was thrown into the sea. Scientific reports would be used with the European Commission to seek an extension of time to ensure compliance with the Water Framework Directive since these targets were scientifically impossible to reach.
Separating the farming industry from rural development was against EU policy and €26 million EU funds, would be given to local councils towards rural development. The minister said that this year more than €20 million was given to farmers and breeders.
The sum of 4.2 million would be spent next year on the paving of the Collacchio, the oldest part of Vittoriosa. Other restoration projects included the upgrading of the Mdina ditch into a landscaped area.
Mr Muscat said that Labour administrations used to work a lot on water harvesting and that the government had discarded work on Wied il-Qlejgħa. Mr Pullicino said that the PL’s work on Wied il-Qlejgħa had primarily focused on restricting the damage to walls and that these works were still ongoing. The ministry had also carried out substantial cleaning works in this valley.
The project against flooding was well under way, and Mepa had approved some parts of it already. Last year some 7,200 tonnes of material and about 600 trucks of soil had been collected from valleys and reservoirs.
Opposition spokesman on resources Joe Mizzi said Malta should have long-term planning on energy, transport, resources including water, oil and security of provisions to avoid crises. Various reports had been made, but none showed serious timetables.
Mr Mizzi said the MRA had taken no steps to force the government’s hands on clean and renewable energy, removal of dangerous plant, renewable energy for Mater Dei Hospital or saving water reserves.
It had allowed the water table to dry up and hidden pollution levels in untreated water, as well as allowing state monopolies to add to the national debt.
Mr Mizzi said proof was available of oil reserves in Malta’s area, but the government was allowing its efforts to be waylaid by three neighbouring countries. A Labour government would do everything within its means to bring oil to the surface.
Charles Buhagiar, opposition spokesman on public works, said climate change was having creeping effects on Malta, such as more intensive rainstorms in shorter times leading to flash floods. The situation was getting even worse.
According to the EU planning directive on flooding, Malta should have planned and implemented a strategy by 2013. After the need of a stormwater master plan had first been worked on by the Labour government in 1996-98, the government was now speaking about it again after a hiatus of years.
What had become of announced projects like Wied il-Għasel, Wied Għollieqa, Lija and Burmarrad?
Water from the aquifer was being over-pumped and the quality was deteriorating, with nitrate levels high above the EU Water Framework Directive. Water wells were important and must be used in homes. The law was there but not being enforced. A major part of the problem was that there were many stakeholders but no ownership.
Mr Buhagiar suggested that where having a well was not practical, such as in a block of apartments, there should be tariffs towards the construction of reservoirs.
Leo Brincat (PL) said the opposition’s biggest concern about this ministry was not only the shady manner in which Wasteserv operated and it would have no qualms in calling an Auditor General’s investigation.
Over past months, the minister had refused to give public explanations to various shortcomings highlighted by Auditor General regarding abuse of public funds, payments without receipts, breach of financial regulations, and lack of supporting documentations.
Opposition spokesman on agriculture Joe Sammut said inferior imported agricultural products were being sold as local produce.
He accused the government of not being able to solve the problems being faced by farmers, breeders and fishermen, loading them to close shop despite having invested heavily in their trade.
Nationalist MPs David Agius, Peter Micallef, Karl Gouder and Philip Mifsud contributed to the debate.