Shutting down the Marsascala Family Park was an act of revenge not precaution, according to George Pullicino, who had overseen the building of the park as resources minister.
Inaugurated on February 24, the park – which is the largest in Malta – is located between the Inspire facility and Sant’ Antnin Waste Recycling plant.
The decision to temporarily close it was taken on July 19, two months after a fault developed in the adjacent recycling plant that prompted Wasteserv to burn acidic gases.
It had been reported that a hydrolyser tank was damaged and experts said the family park should be closed until it was repaired.
Yesterday, PN spokesman for energy Mr Pullicino said the hydrolyser was meant to be repaired within six weeks. But four months on, it was still out of order.
Air monitoring has to be long term
Together with Nationalist MPs Charlo Bonnici and Stephen Spiteri, Mr Pullicino called on the Government to give the real reasons for the closure of the EU-funded park, pointing out that Mepa air quality readings showed the level of sulphur dioxide in the air was way below EU limits.
It was the Environment Ministry itself which referred people to the readings of the air monitoring station, Mr Pullicino said, adding that the EU threshold was 125 micrograms per cubic metre.
Yet the highest sulphur dioxide was recorded was at 38 micrograms on August 7 at 3pm, while the highest average per day was 9.15 on August 31.
Mr Pullicino also pointed out that between 1998 and 2013 the level of sulphur dioxide in the air across Malta decreased by 74 per cent.
Environment Minister Leo Brincat was deceiving people and the real reason for closing the park was that the Government was unable to manage it, he said.
Mr Bonnici said the minister claimed there were air quality issues at the park, yet the adjoining Inspire facility had been assured there was no danger and the Labour Party had even held a barbecue on the premises. Meanwhile, the workers at the plant had been told they were not in danger.
Dr Spiteri, who chairs the Committee for the Parliamentary Group for the South of Malta, said the Government was using the health card to scare people, the same way had done in the power station case.
Six months after Prime Minister Joseph Muscat built his electoral campaign around the fear of a “cancer factory” the Labour government chose to keep using heavy fuel oil in the Delimara power station extension.
The park used to attract 30,000 people on Sundays, and its closure was a blow to the Marsascala businesses, he noted.
In a reaction, the Government said air monitoring, which was being carried out for the first time since the park opened, had to be long term and the average reading per day since the monitoring started was 3.3 per cent of EU limits. The highest was recorded at 11.4 per cent of the EU acceptable average.
The Government said the Nationalist spokesmen had said nothing about the serious mismanagement found at the park during the previous administration.
No internal audit had been carried out about the park’s expenditure, while the park lacked health and safety policies and certification, it added.
In the meantime, the Opposition leader has failed to comment about the serious conclusions of the Management Efficiency Unit about the park, and independent consultants about the operation of the Wasteserv and Sant’Antnin plant.
Asked about MEU’s conclusions during the press conference, Mr Pullicino said the planning authority had carried out an environmental impact assessment of the place, and the EU would not have granted funds if the project was not feasible.