Nineteen complaints about liquid manure dumping on agricultural fields were received by the government in the past two years, Health Minister Konrad Mizzi has told Parliament.

Ten complaints were received on the illegal practice in Malta.

The majority were from the Magħtab area, with other reports from Naxxar, Salina, Burmarrad, Birżebbuġa and Marsascala. Four reports could not be confirmed.

In Gozo, the main complaints were in Xewkija and others referred to Xagħra, Victoria, Għarb, Marsalforn and Għajnsielem.

Dr Mizzi gave the details in a reply to a parliamentary question by MP Ċensu Galea, who referred to reports published by Times of Malta on the issue and asked what action was being taken.

A plan of action is being considered for a joint investigation into the complaints

“A plan of action is being considered for a joint investigation into the complaints,” Dr Mizzi said.

The complaints do not provide an accurate picture of the extent of the practice as they only reflect what the public reported.

They do not include areas where the practice occurs but no complaints are received.

The information can only be taken as an indication of the extent of the practice but it supports statements by the Ombudsman who, on Monday, told this newspaper the illegal practice was “widespread”.

Ombudsman Joseph Said Pullicino is looking into the health and environmental concerns of the practice.

Meanwhile, in the Talking Point appearing on the back page today, agriculture director Justin Zahra replies to questions Times of Malta has been pursuing for almost a month.

This newspaper had been informed by witnesses that two inspectors took soil samples from some agricultural fields in Burmarrad on April 7, soon after initial reports on the problem were highlighted.

Although the department said it would take about a week to analyse the samples, no details were given, despite regular reminders, until Mr Zahra decided to write the article.

Inspectors ‘didn’t find any sign of illegalities’

Mr Zahra said the department “did not find evidence of illegal practices on the fields”.

Times of Malta is informed the two inspectors who turned up did not speak to anyone in the area.

Paul Abela, the full-time farmer who single-handedly led the struggle to stem the hazardous practice since 2011, was in his field adjacent to where the dumping has been occurring when the inspectors arrived.

He informed Times of Malta that the inspectors took the samples from a field that belonged to a farmer who did not use slurry on his fields last year.

This newspaper sought information about the tests to be able to investigate the exact location where the samples were taken from so it could confirm the conclusion. In his article, Mr Zahra reports on the results but not indicate precisely which plot of land the samples were taken from.

Samples taken from a field belonging to a farmer who did not use slurry last year

Dumping slurry on agricultural fields is banned because the whole country is classified as a nitrate vulnerable zone.

Agricultural practices are a major part of the problem since the main source of nitrate pollution in groundwater is the excessive use of natural and artificial fertilisers.

Thirteen out of 15 groundwater bodies have high nitrate levels that are in excess of EU quality standards, at times by several orders of magnitude.

This questions the quality of agricultural produce across the island since farmers use boreholes to extract groundwater to irrigate their fields.