The emergency service for the public to report environmental pollution has been suspended, the planning authority has confirmed, even though the mobile number remains advertised on its website.
The Malta Environment and Planning Authority admitted it had "temporarily suspended" its pollution reporting service without informing the public or providing alternative measures.
This follows the public outcry over a similar move by the Malta Transport Authority (ADT) to temporarily suspend its SMS service to report vehicle emissions, without making an announcement.
Mepa's move emerged after The Sunday Times conducted an exercise to investigate the effectiveness of its emergency services.
Posing as an anonymous citizen wishing to report the dumping of waste oils into the environment, a call was made to the listed emergency number for "pollution control emergency services".
Calls were made every day at different times for a fortnight, but the mobile phone number provided on the website remained switched off.
There was no message directing callers to another number or service.
Attempts were also made to reach the unit through Mepa's main line, but the transferred calls elicited no replies during office hours until the line went dead.
When Mepa was pressed to say why nobody was manning a service offered on its website, it said the service was "temporarily suspended" pending further review. The authority did not say when the service would be up and running again.
The service enabled the public to report illegal acts of pollution, ranging from emissions from chimney stacks to the dumping of all kinds of waste into the environment, with the exception of vehicle emissions.
It is Mepa's duty to follow up on such reports, conduct investigations to identify the perpetrators and take them to court.
When asked for a clarification on what action the public could now take to make such reports, the authority said a call could be made to the Civil Protection Department or the public health department.
The Sunday Times called the CPD on its emergency line and tried to report the dumping of waste oils into the environment. However, the reply was that such reports did not fall under its responsibility and suggested filing a report with the police.
"If someone is dumping waste oil onto the street, we can come and cover it with gravel, but if it's being dumped into fields then I have to put you through to the police so you can file a report," the duty officer said.
The CPD's main duty is to coordinate assistance in land and sea disasters. The department is not empowered to conduct investigations or enforce the law.
Calls made yesterday to two numbers given for the public health department that Mepa referred the reports to also remained unanswered.
cmuscat@timesofmalta.com