Updated 7.40 p.m.
The Nationalist Party said this evening that the admission by the Environment Minister that air quality at the Family Park in Marsascala never posed any danger confirmed how the closuure of the park was based on Labour partisan politics.
The party noted that the closure of the park was the result of a political decision by the Cabinet.
It questioned why the minister, Leo Brincat, was persisting in error by keeping the park closed and said it should be reopened immediately.
The party added that the admission by the minister that the hydroliser at the Waste Treatment Park in Marsascala had not been repaired yet was confirmation of government incompetence. The equipment developed a fault in May.
In the morning, Mr Brincat said the Family Park would be reopened within a matter of days.
Answering questions by Times of Malta, Mr Brincat said the park had not been closed down as an act of political vindictiveness, as the Nationalist Party had claimed on Saturday. The park was closed down on the recommendation of scientist Edward Mallia after the planning authority’s air quality station in Żejtun recorded higher than usual levels of sulphur dioxide on at least two occasions. This was prompted by damage to Wasteserv’s hydrolyser tank in May.
The Government had set up an air quality monitoring station on the site of the park and regular readings had demonstrated that the level of sulphur dioxide in the air was below limits, Mr Brincat said. Therefore there was no quality risk.
The closest station which took monitoring in real time was the one in Żejtun. Although Żejtun could have captured emissions from the Sant Antnin area, negative readings could have resulted from other industrial plants situated closer to Żejtun than to Marsascala.
The air quality monitoring station on the site of the park delivers precise readings in real time.
Nationalist MP George Pullicino in a press conference on Saturday produced the readings from the air monitoring station to show that air quality at the Family Park was fine and there as therefore no reason for its closure. He queried what the real reasons for the closure of the park were.