Black dust committee in the dark

When the parliamentary committee tasked with investigating the mysterious black dust deposited in Fgura was set up last December, many hoped it would finally put an end to the decade-old controversy.

Others doubted whether politicians with little technical background could solve a mystery that has dogged professionals, but few would have expected that two months on this committee had yet to meet.

This was announced yesterday by Labour environment spokesman Leo Brincat, who is also a member on the committee.

Mr Brincat said the Speaker, who was appointed chairman of the cross-party committee, had never given members notice of a meeting.

When asked about the matter Speaker Michael Frendo said it had been his intention to convene a meeting “as soon as” Parliament resumed its business after the Christmas recess.

“Somehow the date has not been fixed. The intention is to hold the first meeting of this committee by not later than the end of this month,” Dr Frendo said.

The suggestion to set up a parliamentary committee was first raised by the Prime Minister on November 11 and approved after a five-hour long debate in December.

Comprising two members from either side of the House, the committee was tasked with investigating the cause of black dust deposited in Fgura and nearby localities after investigations carried out by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority drew a blank. Mr Brincat was speaking outside Mepa’s Hexagon House in Marsa, an area that has been dogged for years by noxious smells. Fuel fumes could be smelt while the press conference was being held.

Along with the black dust issue, which is unrelated, the problem of noxious smells in Marsa is another environmental problem affecting towns in the inner harbour area. Mr Brincat said despite repeated government promises to stamp out the problem it kept returning.

It was ironic, he added, that Hexagon House included the offices of Mepa’s environment section, which had issued an environment permit to a nearby waste oils plant, identified in the past as one of the sources for the foul smell. The government had promised the operations of the plant would be monitored rigorously when the permit was issued, Mr Brincat said, adding that foul smells were evident four times last week alone. “If the government could not be trusted to monitor the operations of a relatively small waste oils plant, how can we trust it to monitor an even bigger pollution producer such as the Delimara power station extension,” Mr Brincat said.