Shipyard operator Palumbo claims it is being “sabotaged” by a series of fake reports after Cospicua residents raised concerns about suspicious dust near the docks.

“We have evidence in hand that those interested in stopping our operations have been making a number of baseless complaints to the authorities in an attempt to hold the company back,” Palumbo general manager Joseph Calleja alleged.

His comments follow a report by this newspaper earlier this week, which highlighted residents’ complaints after their homes and cars were coated in fine dust.

A number of Cospicua families told Times of Malta that the dust contained specks of white paint, which they believed to be the result of grit blasting in the neighbouring docks.

Grit blasting involves firing fine particles of copper at ships to remove paint and rust as part of routine maintenance.

Asked what evidence Palumbo had that it was being sabotaged, Mr Calleja said he possessed “communication” proving the allegations but declined to comment further.

He said the company had received telephone calls from the Malta Environment and Planning Authority on complaints made when the docks were not in use.

“Mepa has asked if we were carrying out works after they received reports but the ships were still sailing in and the pilot was still onboard,” he said, adding he suspected that whoever made the reports had an interest in taking over part of the shipyard.

Mr Calleja would not comment when asked whether he would be taking legal action against the alleged saboteurs and the police did not reply to questions on the matter at the time of writing.

The planning authority confirmed it had received a number of complaints in relation to grit blasting in the Cospicua dock area. A Mepa spokesman said the regulator had since established a notification procedure through which it was informed of all blasting activities within the shipyard.

Palumbo was also instructed not to carry out any spray painting on parts of vessels that were higher than the docks, he said.

Grit blasting would only take place in docks 5, 6 and 7, the spokesman added.

Mr Calleja said the operator had been subject to excessive checks by Mepa inspection officers and also by the police.

“Every day they come and check. It’s not that we want to stop the authorities from entering the dock, quite the contrary, but last weekend we were inspected on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“Each time they found that everything was in order,” he said, adding that the company had a contractual obligation to carry out a certain amount of works.

Cospicua mayor Alison Zerafa said the council had taken samples of dust covering residents’ homes and cars and were waiting for results before taking action.

Respiratory physician Joseph Cacciottolo said prolonged exposure to dust particles of any kind could have long and short-term health implications.

“It’s difficult to say what kind of effects this could cause because tests would have to be done to ascertain what the dust is.

“However, even if this doesn’t contain paint or any other dangerous substances, this could still exacerbate respiratory conditions such as asthma,” he said.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.