Fisheries Cooperative president Ray Bugeja, acting as the “voice” and representative of Marsaxlokk residents, yesterday took his fight against the proposed floating gas storage facility to court.
Standing on the steps of the court house in Valletta shortly after filing a judicial letter on the matter, Mr Bugeja said the residents felt hurt and disappointed at how they were promised one thing and given something completely different.
Accompanied by his wife, Gabriele, and their lawyer, Anne Fenech, he said that, once the Marsaxlokk local council failed to put the minds of residents at rest over the matter, the couple felt they should speak up.
The judicial letter comes a week after Mr Bugeja voiced the concerns of fishermen who argued that the proposed floating gas storage facility in Marsaxlokk would be unsafe and posed serious risks to residents due to strong southeasterly currents that occasionally wreaked havoc there.
In the judicial letter, filed against planning authority chairman Vincent Cassar and its CEO, Johann Buttigieg, Mr Bugeja is demanding that Mepa should not decide on the facility before a maritime impact assessment is carried out. The decision is expected to be taken on Monday.
He is arguing that a report drawn up by consultant George Papadakis did not take into consideration possible points of ignition within the boundaries of the plant. Mr Bugeja noted that the law demanded that a maritime impact assessment be held when such projects are undertaken. The planning authority, he added, could not make such a decision without assessing its potential effects, especially given the location, in the middle of Marsaxlokk bay.
The impact report would also look into what effect it would have on fishermen and the fishing industry, what would happen during bad weather and whether or not the port would have to be closed if there was a collision between the gas storage ship and other vessels. Mr Bugeja complained that although an impact assessment study was promised during public consultation, this still has not happened.
In terms of health and safety issues, the planning authority seemed to be resting on the report drawn up by Dr Papdakis, which was premised on a specific exclusion that realistically cannot be discarded. No one can guarantee that the zone where the storage facility was located would remain ignition free, he said.
There were potentially many sources of ignition that could happen by accident and, in view of this glaring omission, Mepa could not proceed and decide on the project, Mr Bugeja said.
He called on the planning authority not to decide until an assessment was done and Dr Papadakis was asked for his opinion on what would happen if there was an ignition source near the release point of the gas.