Spring is visibly here! The landscaping in our streets immediately takes on a new life when flowers increase not only in quantity but in quality. Since 2002, the embellishment of our roads has been given a boost with the setting up of the public private partnership between the government and the Environment Landscape Consortium. This has literally changed the face of the country, with abandoned areas becoming cultivated.
ELC employees have remarked that, whereas initially, theft from embellished roundabouts and landscaped areas was common, this has decreased considerably, almost completely. This reaffirms an improvement in attitude and civic sentiments that is taking place in our country.
Over the past year, the ELC has continued to increase the areas that are maintained, as well as the amount of flowers, plants and trees planted. The numbers speak for themselves: in 2007, just over 800,000 plants were sowed, while, last year, the number rose to 1.75 million! ELC employees are being more productive and efficient to make our country all the more beautiful.
The ELC’s target this year is to sow half a million plants every quarter, so that by the end of the year our country would have been embellished by no fewer than two million plants. I am pleased to say that in the first quarter of this year, the ELC not only met its target but topped it by 100,000, sowing 600,000 plants. This is yet another example of change and improvement our country has seen, which change was also originally met with opposition! But, as usual, U-turns have been made and the ELC’s success has been acknowledged and praised – April 8.
Now that’s a difference!
While on my way to an Eko-Skola event at Salini Park this morning, I witnessed a scene that would have been unimaginable a couple of years ago. The road beneath the Magħtab landfill was closed to traffic and being used as a track for cyclists instead. About two weeks ago I also saw people horse riding along the passageways created on the site for this very purpose. Who would have considered going cycling or horse riding next to Magħtab four years ago? Back then, everybody automatically rolled up their windows and drove ahead as quickly as possible to avoid the stench. We almost forget that today there is an engineered landfill close to Magħtab in which waste is deposited daily.
The old landfill has undergone two rehabilitation phases. Firstly, about 700,000 tonnes of construction waste was removed to increase stability and make space for passageways. Secondly, 55 kilometres of pipes and 400 wells that are 12 metres deep were installed to ensure the extraction of gases from the landfill. A total of 6,000 cubic metres of harmful gases per hour are extracted, amounting to a total of 100 million cubic metres since the regenerative thermal oxidiser began to operate. These gases are in turn treated to eliminate any threat of pollution.
Subsequently, there has been a 99 per cent reduction in the amount of dioxide in the air in surrounding areas, improving air quality substantially. Furthermore, a reverse osmosis plant has been installed to treat water, which is being used for irrigation in the area.
The final phase in the site’s rehabilitation is now underway. This will involve the Magħtab site being capped to control further emissions and to reduce the amount of contaminated water generated. Soil will then be laid, in which further trees will be planted and a park planned. The improvement in environmental quality is clearly one we are not just talking about but continuing to deliver on to the benefit of all – April 7.
Higher standards
I am posting this blog from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where I am attending the first general assembly of Irena, the International Renewable Energy Agency. Abu Dhabi is the seat of the permanent secretariat of this international agency. During this first meeting, Adnan Amin, from Kenya, was chosen to be the first director general.
Yesterday morning, we held an informal meeting among ministers to discuss the priorities this agency should address in a world where almost a quarter of the population does not have access to electricity and where resources are not meeting energy demands. The price of oil is therefore continuing to increase at an alarming rate. Among the issues discussed was the need for Irena to establish standards not only for technological apparatus but also for their installation. These discussions led me to reflect on the progress made in Malta.
The effectiveness and efficiency of clean energy technology depends on a chain of best practices that also include proper installation. I am therefore pleased that the Institute for Sustainable Energy at the University of Malta, together with the Faculty of Engineering, are offering three courses aimed to train installers, engineers and architects on the correct installation of water heaters and photovoltaic panels.
Candidates who successfully complete these courses approved by the Malta Resources Authority will also be able to apply to serve as certified installers with the regulator. This new system of certification will be in conformity with the EU’s Directive for Sustainable Energy, which maintains that all member states must have such a scheme for installation or equivalent schemes for the certification of sustainable energy systems by December 2012.
Another principal aim of these courses is to provide essential information for designers, builders and engineers so they may plan in advance for the installation of solar systems in new buildings or those being renovated. I am grateful for the role played by the University and augur success for these courses – April 6.
Where is Eman Al Obeidy?
This has become a question that many are asking after Eman, a Libyan woman, was forcefully dragged away in front of journalists as she was recounting the alleged sexual violence she was subjected to by a group of Muammar Gaddafi supporters after being arrested at a checkpoint and detained for two days, where she was also raped.
Now it appears she is being detained in Col Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli. This 29-year-old lawyer from Tobruk has become a new symbol of the opposition to Col Gaddafi in Libya.
As I watched the scene, I said to myself: If this is how she is being treated in front of cameras and journalists, what are they capable of doing far from the public eye?
Eman al-Obeidy was detained on March 26 and, since then, all we have heard are contradictions about her by the Gaddafi regime’s spokesman, Musa Ibrahim. First he said she would be freed, then he claimed she was “in good health and with her family”. He also stated they are considering pressing charges against her and then he claimed that, by Saturday, two or three journalists would be given the opportunity to visit and speak to her. Till today, we do not know of any journalists who have spoken to her since she was taken at the hotel.
Salwa al-Housiny Gouda was one of the Egyptian citizens who occupied Tahrir Square in Cairo. She was one of 17 women who were arrested by the Egyptian army, detained, tortured and subjected to what is referred to as a “virginity test”.
These stories epitomise the sexual violence so many women in the world are subjected to when arrested. Many countries ignore sexual violence and often more than close an eye. It is the duty of the international community to put pressure on countries that allow such injustices to take place - April 4.
http://georgepullicino.blogspot.com
The author is Minister of Resources and Rural Affairs.