The findings of an inquiry into Enemalta’s illegal burning of the hazardous gas mercaptan all pointed to an official cover-up, two leading Labour Party MPs said yesterday.
Did the minister purposely mislead Parliament, or was he himself misled by Enemalta officials?
The inquiry found that Enemalta had broken multiple laws when it burned hundreds of gallons of the dangerous chemical in a field outside Mġarr in 2009, not obtaining the necessary permits, failing to keep an adequate paper trail and being disingenuous in several of its press releases.
It however exonerated top Enemalta officials as well as the ministers responsible, saying there was no indication that they were ever informed of the issue.
However, Labour whip Joe Mizzi yesterday turned the screw on Finance Minister Tonio Fenech, asking why he had told Parliament in February 2011 that Enemalta had stopped using mercaptan in 2007 – a “blatant lie”, Mr Mizzi said.
“Did the minister purposely mislead Parliament, or was he himself misled by Enemalta officials when gathering the necessary information?” he asked.
“Either way, his reply shows that top brass were eager to hide the truth from the public. Why didn’t the inquiry summon the minister for questioning? This was precisely why we had wanted the inquiry to be entirely independent.”
A spokesman at the finance ministry clarified that Mr Fenech’s statement to Parliament was based on information provided to him by two senior Enemalta officials. Neither was any longer an Enemalta employee, the spokesman said.
Mr Mizzi felt the entire affair had been purposely mishandled. “The burning occurred in 2009. There was plenty of time to resolve the issue and identify the culprits. The way things have been handled is a clear lack of transparency and simply points to a cover-up.”
Standing beside Mr Mizzi, the Labour Environment spokesman Leo Brincat insisted the minister ought to resign over the debacle.
“The inquiry found that Enemalta press releases were economical with the truth but then concludes that top officials never knew. It found several documents missing from Enemalta’s records and that every possible waste disposal regulation had been breached by the corporation’s actions. And yet the inquiry essentially concludes that all’s well that ends well and suggests chalking it up to experience. It’s shocking,” Mr Brincat said.
“The minister must assume political responsibility for this disaster and tender his resignation. It’s evident that an inner cabal are being protected for their own interests.”
But the finance ministry spokesman dismissed the accusations, saying that although Mr Fenech was not the minister responsible for Enemalta at the time of the burning, he had apologised to Parliament and ordered an inquiry into the event.
Mr Brincat took the corporation to task for failing to keep an inventory of its hazardous wastes – something he noted was expected of much smaller companies, let alone Malta’s national energy supplier.
The two MPs said that an individual “intimately involved” in the burning of mercaptan was still employed by Enemalta, albeit in a different role. Mr Mizzi also alluded to emails in his possession in which Enemalta officials claimed to have obtained Mepa’s go-ahead for the burning of mercaptan.
According to the inquiry, Enemalta never requested Mepa’s permission to burn the hazardous waste in writing. The only communication between the two entities had been verbal, with no record of the conversations available.
The report skirted issues of personal responsibility, saying it was not within its remit to investigate individuals’ actions. Nevertheless, it noted, criminal prescription limits meant that it was now too late to charge anyone found to be responsible.
Although Enemalta can still take disciplinary action against employees it deems responsible for the chemical burning, this seems unlikely given corporation CEO Louis Giordimaina’s insistence in his official reply to the inquiry that Enemalta employees had acted “in good faith”.