St Paul’s Bay local council is resisting pressure by the government to stop an innovative pro-environment recycling scheme introduced last week in the locality.
Following the launch of the scheme, the government accused the council of breaching the rules by taking the initiative unilaterally. It said the scheme “is full of irregularities”.
St Paul’s Bay mayor Graziella Galea, the daughter of Nationalist MP Ċensu Galea, lambasted the government’s stand adding the council would not be stopping the scheme, for which all necessary permits had been issued.
“We will not be stopping this pro-environment educational campaign. We are following all the rules and laws of the country. We really cannot understand why the government is trying to stop such an educational initiative,” she told the Times of Malta.
Even the private company which supplied a recycling machine, Green Malta Project, rejected the government’s accusations and said all laws and regulations were being followed.
We will not be stopping this pro-environment educational campaign
“This scheme has been tried and tested all over Europe and we cannot understand the authorities’ objections”, the company’s Giuseppe Tricomi said.
“I am not interested in this Labour or Nationalist game on who is the most innovative. I am Italian.
“In fact, there are other councils, including Labour-led, that are alsointerested in introducing this scheme,” he said.
Mr Tricomi said his company had all permits in hand, including Mepa’s, to run the scheme in Malta.
The scheme involves the introduction of a machine that recycles plastic bottles. Residents are being encouraged to use the facility instead of disposing plastic bottles in normal rubbish containers.
In return, residents will get vouchers entitling them to discounts at stores and commercial entities participating in the scheme.
The government told the local council not to introduce the scheme on grounds that it did fall within the parameters of the national waste policy.
It accused the council of defying its orders and of not following public procurement rules.
Ms Galea insists no procurement was involved because the council did not buy anything.
“We did not fork out a cent for this machine because this is an educational campaign.
“The company is providing the machine for free through a public private partnership,” she said.
The mayor complained of a continuous “attack” by the government on the autonomy of local councils, adding that what her council was going through was further proof that the government wanted to impose their diktat on how the councils managed their business.
A similar complaint about erosion of autonomy at the hands of the government was made last week by the association of local council executive secretaries.