The fuel depot in Birżebbuġa is to be closed down and the government will make use of the underground storage facilities in Ħas-Saptan, Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi said yesterday.
“We analysed the situation and took a hard decision – the facility in Birżebbuġa is in the middle of residences and will be relocated for health and environment reasons,” Dr Mizzi said yesterday.
The minister was speaking during a post-Budget meeting organised by the individual ministries as part of the ‘Government That Listens’ campaign.
The plans and studies on the matter are being finalised and consultations with the planning authority are under way. These involve the change of use of existing underground storage tanks at the Ħas-Saptan facility. Dr Mizzi explained that the tanks are currently leased out for overseas use on short-term contracts.
Operating theatre times to be extended
“These tanks will be upgraded with modern safety features and will be used to store fuel,” he said.
Although this meant stopping the lease with private companies, Dr Mizzi said the health and environment was of “the utmost priority”.
While Enemed (the government company in charge of the petroleum division) will lose the storage contracts, using Ħas-Saptan would ensure closing the Birżebbuġa site.
He pointed out that the Nationalist government had failed to keep its promise to shut it down and its proposal to build eight new tanks at Ħas-Saptan and Kordin were turned down by the planning authority.
Residents had been long promised its closure and now the government was committed to continue consultations with all stakeholders to regenerate the site.
This “major initiative” forms part of a programme aimed at regenerating the south of Malta and also includes closing the Marsa power station and the Delimara plant together with the dismantlement of its chimney.
The news was welcomed by members of the public who thanked Dr Mizzi for the decision. Alfred Vella, a chemicals expert, half jokingly said he would be happy to see fireworks let off from the area once it was shut down, while pointing out that he was not a great fan of pyrotechnics.
Meanwhile, Health Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne announced that hospital operating theatres would start being used to their maximum capacity.
“At the moment there are some theatres that are being used until 2pm. Following an agreement with all stakeholders, including the unions, these will be used until 8pm between Monday and Friday,” he said.
This would enable a better use of available resources and further reduce waiting lists, which have already been reduced under a Labour government, Mr Fearne said.