‘Judgment was about procedure, not merits of plant application’

The government is seeking legal advice on whether to appeal against a Constitutional court decision which ordered the re-hearing of the planning appeal over the Marsa­scala Sant’Antnin recycling plant.

The court held that the Malta Environment and Planning Authority’s appeals board which determined the plant application in 2005 was not impartial or independent.

It therefore found that then Environment Minister George Pullicino had breached the human rights of Marsascala residents because his ministry was responsible for the recycling plant application and the appointment of the board.

Reacting, Mr Pullicino and the Parliamentary Secretariat for the Environment (then responsible for Mepa) said the judgment did not enter into the merits of the planning application but focused on the procedure adopted to appoint the appeals board.

“The government acted accord­ing to legal provisions at the time, which stipulated that appeals had to be heard before the planning appeals board”, which had been appointed according to law, the statement said.

The government said it abided by all national and EU legislation throughout the process for the recycling plant permit’s approval.

“This was confirmed in two separate decisions by the European Commission and the Petitions Committeee of the European Parliament, and the court judgment does not put this into doubt,” the government said.

The recycling plant was inaugurated two months ago after the government went ahead with the project despite pending legal challenges.

The plant is a crucial cog in government’s waste manage­ment strategy since it processes up to 71,000 tonnes of waste – a third of what it was originally intended to handle.

Separated waste is taken to the recycling plant to be packaged for export or re-use, while other organic waste is processed into compost.

The latter process, which is radically different from the previous way in which compost was created at the plant, will also generate electricity.