The much-anticipated waste-separation-at-source scheme, which has already been postponed twice in one month, was still shrouded in uncertainty yesterday after the parties made conflicting statements.
The president of the Local Councils Association, Michael Cohen said agreement had been reached over certain outstanding issues and he put the launch date at May 5.
However, the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU, which represents waste carriers, did not commit itself on a launch date. It said that, although the association and the government "have apparently resolved most issues", the GRTU was still at loggerheads with the government.
When contacted yesterday, Mr Cohen said that during a meeting on Wednesday it was agreed that waste separation at source should start on May 5 in Gozo and in Malta the day after.
He said the special bags for the collection of tin, plastic and paper from homes will be available from local councils from April 28. Collection will take place once a week.
Following a three-year-long discussion between the government, local councils and industry, the scheme was originally meant to have started on April 1. The date was initially moved to April 15 only to be postponed indefinitely to clear up some outstanding issues.
The latest postponement was caused by disagreement over who would pay for the scheme once the two-month trial period financed by the government is over. Yet, the agreement reached on Wednesday does not cover this particular aspect.
Questioned on this, Mr Cohen would only say that the scheme would start with government financing and then the rate for collections would be adjusted. He explained that the initial rate of €186 (Lm79.85) per trip was "a little high" for councils, adding that it was presented as an incentive to collectors.
Asked whether the association took into consideration the fact that collectors might not accept to have the rate cut, Mr Cohen said there seemed to be goodwill from all parties and expressed confidence that an agreement would be reached on this aspect too.
The GRTU explained later that, together with the other bodies representing business, it was working on a scheme under which private sector organisations would manage the collection and separation of waste.
This scheme would not, however, be in operation until at least September or October so the government was to finance the operation in the meantime. While agreement with the government had been reached on rates of payment in the first 10 weeks of operation, talks were still being held over the terms that would apply to waste collectors in the interim period, it said.
It is insisting that the rates of payment agreed with the government for the first 10 weeks should not be the subject of any bargaining by any individual local council.
"The Local Councils Association has, however, directed local councils to decide on their own whether they want to accept the rate established nationally or whether to adopt their own fee," the GRTU claimed, adding that this issue was holding the government back from signing an agreement to cover the trial stage.
Furthermore, the GRTU is insisting that the fees the government wants to pay do not cover all the carriers' expenses and that the existing waste collection and transporting systems need to be upgraded.