A foreign expert had been appointed by the Occupational Health and Safety Authority to help it evaluate all LNG gas tanker documentation at a technical level, Deo Debattista, who chairs the authority, said today.

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil wrote to the authority yesterday insisting that the controversial LNG tanker should not be allowed to anchor in Marsaxlokk Bay until risk assessment reports were published.

The tanker arrived in Malta on Sunday.

In his reply to Opposition leader Simon Busuttil (see pdf link below), Dr Debattista said all these documents would be published once the evaluation process was concluded and the public consultation process related to the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control process was embarked upon.

He said the OHSA believed that, in this way, it would be observing the principles of transparency expected from every public authority.

The authority wanted to assure everyone that the conversion to gas was being carried out in an efficient manner with all prevention control measures being taken, Dr Debattista said.