Finance Minister Tonio Fenech should himself be investigated for his possible role in the alleged dumping and incineration of toxic waste in Mġarr, Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday.
Last week, Maltese daily newspaper l-orizzont claimed that two years ago Enemalta secretly dumped 450 gallons of Mercaptan after trying, and failing, to abandon it at Corradino.
The substance is a chemical used to give LPG gas (an otherwise odourless substance) its distinct smell for safety reasons. Although in small quantities the substance is harmless, higher doses can cause lung paralysis, convulsions and even narcosis. Even at slightly lower concentrations, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that it can lead to pulmonary edema, which is a condition through which the lungs fill with water.
Following the story, the Finance Ministry announced that it would be setting up a board of inquiry.
But Dr Muscat was yesterday unimpressed by the minister’s words. The minister had obfuscated the issue, Dr Muscat charged, by first telling Parliament that Enemalta had used all its mercaptan and only calling for an inquiry once the dumping allegations surfaced in newspapers.
The minister, Dr Muscat said, could not call for an inquiry when he himself should be investigated in regard to the extent of his knowledge of the toxic dumping.
In a succinct reply, the Finance Ministry accused Dr Muscat of implying ulterior motives were at play when he knew there were none. While Dr Muscat chose to broadcast his allegations, the government had called for an independent inquiry into the dumping allegations, the ministry said.
Dr Muscat also had harsh words for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and the €93,000 salary of its chairman, Austin Walker. Mr Walker came under significant parliamentary pressure this week following Mepa’s failure to submit a report concerning the source of black dust to Parliament.
The report, which was concluded last March, established that the Marsa power station was the “most likely candidate source” of black dust.
According to Dr Muscat, Mepa could not be trusted. The exorbitant salaries of its top officials simply added insult to injury.
“We are paying for a Ferrari but getting a Trabant,” he said, referring to a controversial joke Mr Walker had made when asked to justify his salary: “If you want an expensive car, you have to pay for it,” Mr Walker had famously said.
Questions were also raised concerning the oncology centre being built within the grounds of Mater Dei hospital. In 2004, Dr Muscat said, the government had paid Swedish constructors Skanska €14 million to build, among other things, an oncology centre as part of Mater Dei.
Plans then evolved and the government had first announced that the centre would be established at Zammit Clapp Hospital, before changing its mind and taking its plans to one of Mater Dei’s car parks. Dr Muscat drew attention to the centre’s spiralling costs, from €24 million in 2008 to €48 million last year. This year, Dr Muscat said, Health Minister Joseph Cassar quoted a figure of €59 million for the centre.
“I don’t begrudge a single cent spent on healthcare,” Dr Muscat said, “but taxpayers deserve an answer as to why a cancer centre originally projected to cost €24 million is going to end up costing €59 million”.
In his speech, Dr Muscat touched upon a number of other issues, describing the working conditions of certain care-workers as those from a Charles Dickens story, calling for greater respect of minority rights and reiterating his calls for constitutional reform with the aim of establishing a Second Republic.