Senglea residents feel “extremely disappointed and disempowered” that their health was of no consequence to anyone.
“Governments change but poor governance continues. We have lost all faith in the authorities. No authority interfered and spoke up for our well-being. It seems that politicians only come here when it’s election time,” Anna Spiteri, PRO of the Senglea Residents’ Association, said.
Ms Spiteri was speaking to this newspaper after the court found the Palumbo Shipyard had not disturbed the residents’ repose.
Company director Joseph Calleja, Francesco Domenico Impollino, as captain, and Saverio Velluci, inspector of the tugboat Hamal appeared in court after residents filed a criminal complaint regarding an incessant, low rumbling noise heard on the night of January 28.
We have lost all faith in the authorities
The charges formulated by the police specified that the noise emanated from Dock 5 where the Hamal was docked. The court ruled that the noise affecting the residents could not be attributed solely to the Hamal and it, therefore, acquitted the accused.
“Although [court appointed expert] Joseph Agius pointed out there could have been some form of input from the tugboat Hamal together with the rest of the generator noises from other vessels docked at the Palumbo Shipyard, as well as beyond the yard, the noises emanating from the Hamal’s generator were not proven to be loud enough for one to conclude that it was the sole, or principal, cause for the inconvenience,” Magistrate Aaron Bugeja noted.
This argument, however, did not impress the residents, who had complained that the noise came from the Palumbo Shipyard and it was, therefore, irrelevant to them whether this emanated from Dock 5 or Dock 6, the magistrate noted.
The court, however, could not proceed in a “populist, generic and simplistic” manner because it was tied down by a set of laws and constrained to abide by them, whether it liked it or not, the magistrate continued.
Ms Spiteri told this newspaper the residents had merely reported the source of the noise and the police seemed to have stopped with the Hamal in Dock 5 and did not attempt to go further.
“We are powerless. We were not asking for Palumbo to stop working but only that its night-time operations are restricted. We feel so disempowered. Mepa does not impose any noise restrictions and the Occupational Health and Safety Authority remained silent,” she added.
The Palumbo Shipyard had been operating for the past five years without an environmental permit, Ms Spiteri said.
“Our sleepless nights continue. I don’t even live over the bastions; those who do have it much worse. They are suffering very much,” she added.
The association will be meeting to discuss its next step, Ms Spiteri said, adding that no authority seemed to care about their plight and that poor governance persisted.
“We are extremely disappointed that our health is of no consequence to anybody,” she said.