The government was this evening asked to explain how foul smells from the Maghtab dump have returned to the coast road after nine years.

"This is a result of bad management of the waste management facility," Nationalist MP George Pullicino said in Parliament.

He recalled that the former government had created an engineered landfill dug deep into the ground, but under this government, this rock cutting had been practically stopped, the landfill had run out of space, and now people could see rubbish mounting up again.

All this was happening because Wastserv, the government's waste management company had been shorn of its experienced management.  

Mr Pullicino, who was speaking on the adjournment, said the return of foul smells was raising a chorus of complaints, especially from people who live in the area, and tourism operators.

In order for the government to save money, not only had rock cutting stopped, but rubbish was not being compacted and covered by debris, he said. Layers of rubbish were being piled on top of each other, hence the smells.  

At the beginning of his speech, Mr Pullicino, a former minister, recalled that anyone driving along the coast road up to 2007 needed to close his windows because of the foul smell.

The government had then tackled the situation. It removed some 700,000 tons of debris to ensure that the rubbish mountain did not slide, with the risk of releasing a huge amount of poisonous gas.

Then some 55km of pipes were laid to remove and burn this trapped gas. This was no mean achievement.

The engineered landfill was dug into the ground, and, as other measures kicked in, the level of dioxine in the area was reduced by a staggering 99 per cent.

Alas all this momentum had now been lost and the foul smells had returned.

This, Mr Pullicino warned, was false economy that was detrimental to the country and its people. 

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