Expert to help monitor air quality
Students were given a private tour of the new Sant’Antnin Waste Recycling plant led by Resources Minister George Pullicino.
The Marsascala local council has accepted WasteServ’s invitation to appoint its own technical expert to help monitor air quality around the Sant’Antnin waste recycling plant.
Mayor Mario Calleja said the council was looking at this as a mitigation measure which would address residents’ concerns.
The council’s move comes in spite of the fact that the mayor chose not to attend the official launch of the newly upgraded plant on Thursday, arguing that it would have been inappropriate given that the council still had a pending court case over the planning permit issued for the plant’s upgrade.
However, hundreds of residents attended an event in the evening which was open to people living in the surrounding areas.
The Times reported yesterday that residents had boycotted the plant ceremony. However, they were not actually invited to the launch in the morning but to the ceremony in the evening hosted by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi which was well attended.
The front against the recycling plant had said residents would be sending their invitations back to the government but a spokesman for the Resources Ministry said it had only received one.
The mayor himself said he had been planning to attend until the previous evening but then decided not to, changing his mind overnight.
The €27 million upgrade, of which the EU forked out €16.7 million, will see organic waste being pre-treated through a mechanical process that removes the material to be rejected. It is then passed into an enclosed digestion plant where negative air pressure is pumped so any foul smells stay inside. Heat produced during this process will then be channelled from the plant to warm the nearby pool for disabled people at Inspire, which will save the centre €30,000.
Mr Calleja said the council still believes irregularities had taken place in the way the site was selected in 2004 and still had appeals before Mepa and the courts.
However, the ministry has consistently insisted there were absolutely no irregularities and pointed out that the European Parliament’s petitions’ committee refused to take up a call for an investigation, while the European Commission found no breach of EU law in the way the upgrade was handled.
In fact, the plant fulfils waste management obligations which Malta has with the EU.
One of the most contentious issues has been the fear that the plant, which developed a reputation for its odours in the past, would still emit a stench after the upgrade.
However, Mr Calleja yesterday said residents could put their minds at rest that the technical person to be appointed by the council would oversee the monitoring of air quality.
With regard to the proposed family park in Marsascala, on which work will start soon, the council is unanimously in favour. Meanwhile, Resources Minister George Pullicino accompanied students from the Marsascala school and others in neighbouring towns on a familiarisation visit ahead of an open weekend showcasing the new facility.
Popular Stories
Update 3: Woman found dead in car,...
Updated: Woman dies in car crash
Carm Mifsud Bonnici resigns after...
Part of Dwejra 'Azure window' collapses
The end of the bar that ‘never closed’
Bundy does not know whether to...
Updated - Jason Micallef demands...
This WAS the night - Kurt makes it...
'No need for early election if PM's...
In Discussion
Updated - Jason Micallef demands...
Gozo tunnel could take 5-7 years to...
CABS remote controlled aircraft shot...
Carm Mifsud Bonnici resigns after...
Joseph Calleja condemns portrayal of...
Updated: Labour would give...
CABS drone shot down
Second group of migrants arrives
Adrian Vassallo in scathing...
9 Comments
Post comment
Please sign in or create your Account to post comments.
V. Portelli
Nov 28th 2010, 06:36
Today’s picture showing kids on the cuccu train accompanied by Minister Pullicino tells a thousand stories. What on earth are WasteServ and George Pullicino trying to promote. It’s a far cry from Euro Disney. For the second day running the Times has revealed the shabby state of the new inaugurated plant. Believe you me I would not let my children go anywhere near the plant. So far all we have witnessed innocent kids being taken on a merry go around the plant. I would have thought it would have been more appropriate to show queues of the hundreds of people pushing their way to enter the much publicized opening of the plant as quoted in the paper. It is easier to admit that it has been a big flop and the boycott by residents was observed.
SALVU CHETCUTI
Nov 27th 2010, 17:48
OSSERVAZZJONI:
Kif ma derherx bniedem iswed jahdem go l-impjant li gie nawgurat mill-PM u mbierek mill-Isqof. Is-soltu dawn il-povri klandestini biss tara jissortjaw iz-zibel.
Hlief irgiel ta’ kulur abjad bit-tbissima fuq wicchom ma rajniex.
Iva anke hawn nippruvaw ningannaw u naghtu ‘il-feel good factor’. Imsomma gvern tal-propaganda.
joe sant
Nov 27th 2010, 17:25
Yesterday, this paper had a very good and precise report, showing the true facts that occurred during the morning celebrations and the receptions that followed. Total boycott by residents. Today this paper is again showing the true facts. The photo speaks for itself. And this when the celebrations are still going on. Povri tfal!!
M vella
Nov 27th 2010, 13:37
The train in the picture reflects the circus that Malta has become.
m micallef
Nov 27th 2010, 11:59
This time I can smell foul odour not coming from the plant but from the Council. All agree that such monitoring of the air is a must now that we are dealing with a very large factory that processes waste and produces compost and methane gas. This monitoring should not put aside the vitiated, manipulated process, the luck of very important studies, the rigged exercise in which the site was selected and other gross irregularities. Us residents are going to be vigilant and expect our council to do so for his responsibilities are aimed to safeguard the residents of Marsascala not play ally pally with WasteServ and George Pullicino.
C. GAUCI
Nov 27th 2010, 11:14
This is nothing new about the monitoring of air quality in the area for it was one of the conditions laid by Mepa in the EIA studies and it has nothing to do with the important studies stipulated in the terms of reference that were never carried out for they were too expensive.
Mr. Mayor, peace of mind do not come from just monitoring of the area this has to be done automatically being a mizbla, a recycling plant that is an obnoxious industry and this monitoring of air quality should not serve as a screen or replace health studies that were never carried out. Mr. Calleja your duty is to the residents of Marsascala not WasteServ or the Minister. If things go wrong we shall hold you too responsible if you decide to turn your back on studies that you very well know have not been conducted.
r mifsud
Nov 27th 2010, 10:47
WasteServ said that the Marsaskala local council is to participate in the Monitoring Committee. Oh what a news!! Possibbli ghandna Kunsill daqshekk bravu u tal-affari tieghu? Lanqas konna nafu!! But let me ask a few questions to our beloved and hard working council. a) Is it true that the local council discussed and decided this issue a week ago? b) Is it true that the issue was discussed through the insistence of the Mayor? c) Was the decision unanimous? d) Does the council know the function of the Monitoring Board? e) Is there any provision in the terms of reference of the Monitoring Committee if anything goes wrong, such as foul smells, as we encountered last summer or bad air quality? f) what are the powers of this Board, if it has any. Mhux billi naqbdu u napprovaw. Jew forsi kien hemm min ried jghaggel il-bicca tax-xoghol halli naghtu l-ghalf lill-Ministru Pullicino? TRIDUX THALLUNA TAL-KUNSILL. KEMM QED THASBUNA CWIEC!
Carmen Debono
Nov 27th 2010, 10:39
It seems that yesterday’s boycott by residents as reported in the Times did not go well with the PN administration. I live opposite the plant and believe you me very few people visited the plant having been invited personally by Minister Pullicino. Over 12,000 residents in Marsaskala alone were invited and the boycott was real. Whom I met in the streets and shops all said that they were returning back the invitation as it was an insult. I would not permit the school to take my child for a plant visit. Just going by today’s photo in the Times showing dirt and rubbish on the floor dissuaded me not to do so. I hope the schools are asking permission from parents to take our kids for a plant visit, as I have been told the plant is infested with flies and mosquitoes. Do not use our kids for propaganda.
P. Dimech
Nov 27th 2010, 10:16
BIG DEAL or no deal. The monitoring of the area as eagerly agreed by the Marsascala council should not serve as a ‘PARAVENTU’ to hide important studies such as health studies, noise, pests and foul smell THAT WERE NEVER CONDUCTED for they were too expensive for us Maltese. In fact the emphasis of the Prim Minister’s inauguration speech was solely based on this issue of the monitoring unit to alienate and distract residents from the real issue that of the very important studies that were never carried out and the gross irregularities cemented in this vitiated process.