Farmland will make way for a recycling plant alongside the engineered landfill in Għallis after the planning board yesterday approved the project by 10 votes to one.

That is where I will die, they want to kill us from hunger

After three-and-a-half hours, during which a farmer even threatened to blow himself up, the only one to vote against was Alex Vella, a representative of green groups.

Mr Vella asked why the plant was not being built on land already disturbed by the Magħtab landfill. “Is it because it is easier to gobble up agricultural land?”

But Wasteserv, the government waste management agency, said it was not recommended to build on a landfill that had not yet been fully rehabilitated.

The agency said the project was part-financed by the EU but it was on a tight deadline and risked losing the funds if the facility was not approved.

Residents objected to the plant, which will take up additional land alongside the Għallis landfill and the Magħtab dump in the limits of Naxxar.

In an impassioned plea, Charles Sciberras, a farmer who has land in the area, accused Wasteserv of failing to consult residents like him.

Mr Sciberras’s family is set to lose more land to make way for the facility. If Wasteserv wanted to take his farm, he added, it had to take him as well.

“That is where I will die, they want to kill us from hunger,” he said, adding that he would become the first in Malta to tie explosives around his waist and blow himself up when Wasteserv moved in to take his farm.

It was the tensest moment in what was otherwise a very calm meeting during which board members asked Wasteserv some pertinent questions about the application.

Board member Victor Axiak, a biologist and University lecturer, asked why no studies were conducted to evaluate the impact of the plant on animal husbandry in the area and whether it would create more pest-control problems.

The reply was that these studies were not recommended by the planning authority’s Environment Protection Directorate.

Prof. Axiak asked for a number of clarifications, noting some mistakes in the report by Wasteserv’s consultants. At one point, he openly regretted the fact that the area was already “condemned” by the presence of a landfill.

Malta Environment and Planning Authority chairman Vince Cassar chided Wasteserv for allowing waste carriers to pass through Magħtab village and insisted this had to be corrected from “tomorrow”. He was responding to resident complaints that Wasteserv could not be trusted to live up to its commitments when trucks were allowed to pass through Magħtab rather than use the coast road.

Board member Ryan Callus, the Nationalist Party representative, reminded fellow board members that Malta had EU targets to reach by 2020 on recycling.

Malta is obliged by EU directives to recycle at least 50 per cent of all waste generated, a target that will not be met unless the Sant’ Antnin plant at Marsascala is supplanted by other recycling facilities.

Mr Callus said failure to build the Għallis plant would mean the engineered landfill would have to be extended in the future, taking up more virgin land.

“The recycling plant will reduce the amount of waste that needs to be landfilled and it will help reduce the impact on residents in the area,” he said.

The plant will be divided into two sections: one will handle 47,000 tonnes of dry recyclable waste and the bigger part will convert organic municipal waste and manure into compost.

The compost plant will receive 100,000 tonnes of domestic waste per year, 35,000 tonnes of cattle manure and 4,000 tonnes of chicken manure. It will also produce gas that will be used to produce electricity.

John Portelli, a representative of Magħtab residents, called on the board to adopt “common sense”, claiming the applicant had misled them on a number of issues.

Mr Portelli said he could not understand why the health impact assessment was waived, adding the designated area was primarily agricultural land that contained rich archaeological remains.

A representative of the Coastline Hotel also complained of the “ever-expanding mountain” at Għallis and the foul smells that were pushing away clients.

The project was then approved, much to the dismay of residents.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com