Malta is probably the most densely populated country in the world with a relatively large population living on an island of very limited area. While over the past 50 years the population increased from 250,000 to more than 420,000 and is still increasing due to an inflow of foreigners taking up residence here, the area of the islands is decreasing annually due to coastal erosion and rising sea levels.

... our limited land mass ensures that the cost of land will increase in the future- Charles Buhagiar

Other nations with a much bigger land mass than ours have taken these problems very seriously and are constructing sea defences to limit the reduction of their land mass. Such problems are of a long-term nature but they still need to be addressed by implementing long-term solutions. Unfortunately, till now, various administrations have given scant attention to these problems even if they realise that they are getting worse due to increasing competing land uses on an ever shrinking land. Indeed, we now have arrived at a situation where we cannot accommodate certain uses due to our limited area.

In the meantime, we have another (medium- to long-term) problem which, to date, has not been addressed successfully and that is the disposal of construction waste.

Currently, construction waste is being dumped into quarries some of which, unfortunately, still have potential for the production of good quality stone. However, due to the fact that the demand for stone has decreased drastically over the past years, quarry owners prefer to use their quarries for the dumping of construction waste rather than the quarrying of stone. Such decisions may make economic sense to the quarry owner but are leading to the loss of a precious natural resource.

At first, soft stone quarries were used for the dumping of construction waste. These quarries are big holes in the ground and so their filling with construction waste helped to remove eyesores from our countryside, especially if, eventually, these quarries were converted into fields. However, the provision of these spent quarries was soon exhausted and the dumping of construction waste started being carried out in hard stone quarries. These quarries are very different. They are not holes in the ground but usually operate by blasting hill sides or high ground. Hence, dumping of construction waste in such quarries creates huge mounds of construction waste, a sort of mini-Magħtab as can be seen in various areas such as on the main road leading to Mġarr (opposite San Anton school), Wied Inċita in Attard or Wied il-Lunzjata, Rabat.

In my opinion such practices should be discontinued while the areas that have been infilled should be properly landscaped.

Effectively, it also means we have no medium- to long-term alternative for the disposal of construction waste even if all efforts are made to minimise this waste stream.

One may therefore consider a solution to the two long-term problems described above by looking at sea reclamation.

To be economically and environmentally feasible, such sea reclamation needs to be carried out in areas where the sea is already polluted and where depth is limited.

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority has already carried out two studies on this subject and identified the areas of Qalet Marku (opposite Magħtab) and the area in front of the Xgħajra sewage outfall as the best locations for sea reclamation. However, Mepa has concluded that the creation of land by means of sea reclamation is not feasible because the costs are too high.

This latter conclusion of Mepa is very subjective because it does not take into account two factors.

The demand for different uses of our limited land mass ensures that the cost of land will increase in the future. This is simple economic sense since the price of an item will always increase if the demand for it increases when the supply is limited. We just cannot accommodate certain type of projects in areas outside the development zones for, otherwise, we will end up with no agricultural land.

The second factor that needs to be taken into consideration is that sea reclamation needs to be project driven. One can only consider creating land by means of sea reclamation if there is the demand for a project that cannot be accommodated on our existing land mass either due to environmental reasons or because of lack of space. Hence, one cannot entertain sea reclamation to create sites for the construction of housing blocks. There are other viable options for such use, like making better use of existing housing stock that is underutilised.

However, one may need an area for the construction of a wind energy farm, which cannot be accommodated on the mainland due to the visual impact of the tall turbine towers or their impact on residents in the vicinity.

Other projects which could be considered are either related to maritime uses, tourist purposes or to both combined, such as the creation of marinas.

It is time that we start seriously discussing possible long-term solutions to the two problems mentioned earlier. Sea reclamation would be one such long-term solution to both problems. Obviously, such sea reclamation projects would need detailed environmental and economic feasibility studies.

Labour is not eliminating outright the possibility of such solutions. Rather, we want to place sea reclamation on the national agenda to create a forum for an exchange of ideas that will hopefully lead to feasible sustainable solutions to our long-term problems.

The author is the Labour Party’s main spokesman on infrastructure, public works, capital projects and the sustainable development of central Malta.