The Environmental Impact Assessment for the projected new gas-fired power station is unsatisfactory as it still lacks the required details, environment NGO Din l-Art Helwa said today.

"This Environmental Impact Assessment cannot be considered complete until further details of this major project are made available for assessment," it said.

It said the consultants engaged to carry out the studies did not yet have the full details of the proposed project. The EIS report itself acknowledges that, as the operator of the new power plant has not yet been selected,  and the level of detail available for assessment is limited.

For example, the report does not contain satisfactory information about the amount of land reclamation, excavation and dredging that will be required, and some of the consultants themselves express a low level of confidence in their own predictions due to a lack of data.

The report does not evaluate any technological alternatives, and does not present a clear comparative assessment of the environmental impacts of the three proposed layouts.

"An Environmental Impact Assessment should ensure that both the authorities and the public are fully aware of the environmental implications of a project before a decision is made. It must assess all predicted significant impacts of a proposal, and examine how each adverse impact may be mitigated and reduced. This will not be possible until more details of the project are presented," the NGO said.

Din l-Art Helwa’s comments on the draft EIS can be viewed on www.dinlarthelwa.org