A parliamentary question on the disposal of hazardous waste was only answered by government last week, 20 months after it was made, according to Labour environment spokesman Leo Brincat. Furthermore, the reply left much to be desired, he said.
The government said it was in the process of drawing up plans and preparing studies to determine how and where hazardous waste should be disposed of. However, Mr Brincat insisted that the hazardous waste facility at Magħtab had not seen the light of day and the area was still being used to store such material.
“The impression one gets is that the government is lost on the matter and is trying to hide its failures,” Mr Brincat said during a press conference.
He asked what controls and safety measures were being taken, and insisted that the government should come clean on the matter.
Referring to comments made by a top Wasteserv official during a radio interview that fly ash from the Marsa incinerator contained high levels of heavy metal, Mr Brincat said the government was duty-bound to clarify the matter.
Mr Brincat said: “What caused this higher level of heavy metal and did it pose a risk to neighbours or even the abattoir next door?”
Labour’s environment spokesman added that the Malta Environment and Planning Authority was still “contemplating” what legal action to take against a leading contractor who last year was exposed for handling hazardous fly ash from the Marsa power station and disposing it in a quarry without the necessary permits.
Reacting, the Tourism Parliamentary Secretariat said Mr Brincat would have been more credible had he informed those present at his press conference of the progress made in this sector.
“Never has there been such an investment in the collection and treatment of waste than in the past years,” it said. It added that the fly ash generated by the Marsa incinerator was the end product of a process treating emissions.
To ensure the incinerator’s emissions were clean, a process existed that eliminated any contamination using a specific chemical; this resulted in fly ash.
Mepa, it added, had also undertaken an exercise to identify those industries generating certain quantities of hazardous waste to regularise their operations.