The suspension of the planning authority's pollution report service without the public being informed was deemed "unacceptable" by its chairman but nobody would be shouldering responsibility for the decision.
The Malta Environment and Planning Authority admitted to The Sunday Times it had "temporarily suspended" its emergency pollution reporting service without informing the public or providing alternative measures.
The suspension of the service and the fact that the public was kept in the dark was "not the correct way of going about things", Mepa chairman Austin Walker said when contacted yesterday.
He insisted the matter was being addressed and the service should be back to normal by the week's end.
Mr Walker would not say who would be shouldering responsibility for the decision, insisting there were "various circumstances" that led to the suspension.
"One of the reasons was the fact that the Environment Directorate was evaluating the utility and effectiveness of the service. This does not justify the decision to stop the service without informing the public. It is not acceptable," he said.
The Sunday Times said that the mobile number to report environmental pollution advertised on Mepa's website led to a dead end because nobody manned the line. Calls to the number 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 pollution control unit through Mepa's main line but the transferred calls elicited no replies during office hours until the line went dead.
The "quiet" suspension of the service 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 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 the authority's duty to follow up on such reports, conduct investigations to identify the perpetrators and take them to court.