The least one would have expected Minister George Pullicino to do was to get his facts right when claiming that I shirked from commenting about the recent dumping of sand into the sea at Qawra.

Had he bothered to check, he would have found that I had stated that, regardless of whether the Government was also in the know or not, it was a wrong decision.

I had only said that the matter should be dealt with internally by the Labour Party should any disciplinary action need to be taken against the local council after I had been asked point blank what specific action I recommended.

My earlier unequivocal remarks showed that, contrary to what Mr Pullicino implied, I did not have any second thoughts about taking a stand publicly on the dumping issue.

Mr Pullicino would have done more justice had he explained why WasteServ – for which he is politically responsible – for two months chose to ignore various Mepa queries and written requests for detailed information in connection with its then ongoing investigations about alleged importation – legal or otherwise – of animal carcasses from North Africa that could have been burnt at the Marsa incinerating plant, for which he is, in turn, responsible too.

(The author is the Labour Party’s spokesperson on the environment, sustainable development and climate change.)