Wasteserv – the government agency responsible for waste management – has failed to explain the evidently uncontrolled situation developing at various civic amenity sites across the country as heaps of electronic waste continue to pile up.

Despite assurances from the government agency that the situation was under control and export of this material was in the pipeline, the situation continued to worsen.

Last month, the Times of Malta reported the accumulation of hundreds of fridges, freezers, water heaters and all sorts of appliances and other electronic rubbish at various Wasteserv sites.

Despite assurances from the government agency that the situation was under control and that export of this material was in the pipeline, the situation continued to worsen and has now reached unprecedented levels.

“We have never experienced such accumulation of electronic and hazardous waste since the setting up of these civic amenity sites,” Wasteserv sources told the Times of Malta.

“The situation is evidently out of control, and the top echelons of the company have no clue how to solve the problem. The situation has become dangerous, as material is being dumped without any order and there is a real risk that an accident happens,” another official said.

“We have never experienced such accumulation of electronic and hazardous waste since the setting up of these civic amenity sites,” said Wasteserv sources.

The situation has been also highlighted recently in Parliament, as former Environment Minister George Pullicino lambasted the government over the lack of long-term planning in this sector.

While stating that during the previous administration, these sites were cleared every few weeks and the electronic waste stored in warehouses until exported, he said that the situation is now out of control while exports are at a standstill.

“We don’t know what is happening, but it is clear for everyone that something at Wasteserv is wrong.”

Various questions sent to Wasterve remained unanswered at the time of writing.

The Times of Malta asked the government agency to state why exports have slowed down this year, whether the agency has run out of funds and for an explanation of the unprecedented amount of electronic waste at its sites.

No replies were forthcoming.

Last month, when the situation was first highlighted by the Times of Malta, Wasteserv blamed “the previous administration” for the situation, stating that “during the past legislature, due to lack of funds, a lot of electronic waste material ended up dumped in stores in Marsa, instead of being exported”.

However, the waste agency has still not explained the reason for the mountains of electronic waste currently swamping the civic amenity sites.

White goods retailers yesterday told this newspaper that the government did not prepare properly for the removal of the eco-contribution on these goods earlier this year and has now created a massive problem of waste which it cannot control.

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com