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I have up until now refrained from expressing my opinion on the proposed new waste treatment plant to be constructed at Marsaskala, the town I have made my home for the last four years.
I can understand the need for a national plan to deal with Malta’s waste problem and the consequences of that plan which would require certain facilities to be built. I have tried to understand the rationale behind Government’s decision to ‘upgrade’ the Sant Antnin recycling plant, which has been a mainstay of Marsaskala’s landscape ever since somebody dreamt of putting a recycling plant in the middle of a valley just metres away from residential buildings.
But the harder I try to understand the arguments put forward by WasteServ justifying the construction of the new facility at Marsaskala, the more I am convinced of its unsuitability.
To start with, nobody can accuse Marsaskala residents of suffering from the NIMBY syndrome. They have been suffering the consequences of an amateurish recycling plant situated in their backyard for over 10 years now. Back in 1993 the community accepted the construction of the plant only to be let down by politicians who did not keep their promise that the facility would not be an inconvenience or a health hazard.
Government has a serious credibility problem and to make matters worse the Environment Minister will not guarantee that no more than 70,000 tonnes of waste will be treated at the new facility in the future. Are there covert plans to continue increasing the amount of waste that will be treated in Marsaskala in the future?
If WasteServ’s proposal is truly aimed at upgrading the Sant Antnin facility to make it safer, cleaner and less of a nuisance for residents then I would have no problem supporting Government’s decision. The facility would be treating the same amount of waste it currently accepts (35,000 tonnes) minus the inconvenience.
Unfortunately, what we have in front of us is not a modernisation of the current facility. What has been described as an upgrade is simply the demolishment of the current facility and the construction of a new plant that will be treating more than double the waste being processed today.
Double the waste means double the number of refuse trucks passing through the area. It also means double the activity with all the noise and air pollution that will bring. Even if the footprint of the new facility is to occupy the same area as that is currently covered by Sant Antnin, the operations of the plant will need to be doubled. It will be a veritable industrial facility.
To have this expanded operation bang in the middle of a booming residential area is out of the question and sufficient reason for me to say ‘no’ to George Pullicino’s plan.
When I asked WasteServ officials why they were not considering relocating the new facility somewhere else given the plan to demolish Sant Antnin, the reply was that the basic infrastructure will be retained.
WasteServ argues that reconstructing the basic infrastructure, such as the administrative office block and the concrete-lined pit, would increase the cost of the new facility.
At a time of austerity measures and high deficits I can understand the concern to minimise costs but that begs the question: How much more would it cost to build the new waste facility lock stock and barrel somewhere else?
With Government collecting millions from eco-taxes in 2005, can some of this money not be channelled into the additional costs for relocating Sant Antnin to another place altogether. A Government that finds it easy to spend Lm9 million to purchase an oversized office block in Brussels, even though the money was not budgeted for, should not find it at all difficult to spend a couple of thousands more on a new waste facility located far away from residential areas.
One location that could make sense is the Hal Far Industrial Estate. Land is not an issue, the zone is cut off from residential areas and the location is situated on the main thoroughfare that forms part of the trans-European network making access to Hal Far easier than it is to Marsaskala.
A political decision is needed to close Sant Antnin once and for all and construct the new modernised waste treatment facility elsewhere. The crowd present for the public consultation last week was a mixed one. Political creed was not an issue even if NET TV tried to manipulate the entire situation. There were Labourites, Nationalists, Greens, foreigners and apolitical individuals in that crowd.
The residents simply wanted Minister George Pullicino to hear their unanimous ‘no’ to his plan. People who have been bitten once know when a plan stinks.
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