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Kurt Sansone
The Water Services Corporation has insisted that its personnel have the necessary expertise to the run Malta’s only sewage treatment plant in Marsaskala despite claims made by the previous Italian contractors that the corporation’s engineers were not sufficiently trained in the systems used at the facility.
The issue came to fore this week when l-orizzont reported that purified water from the plant had stopped being pumped to a number of reservoirs in the south of the island since 1 January when the running of the facility was handed over to the WSC.
In replies sent to this newspaper the Corporation, however admitted that its personnel required training related “to the particular characteristics of the plant, especially on existing computer programmes and some maintenance aspects.”
But what seems to be a non-issue for the WSC – the need for further training on existing computer programmes – is a serious concern to the Italians.
Talking to MaltaToday, a representative of the Italian company Galva SpA said that over the last seven years the plant’s operation had been modernised and automated. “Running such a facility requires people who are specifically trained in the biological processes and computer systems that ensure efficient management of the sewage treatment plant,” the Italian spokesperson said.
The Italian told MaltaToday that in seven years of operation, they never stopped pumping purified water to the reservoirs not even when the plant required maintenance.
It was in August last year that the WSC decided to terminate the contract with the Italians in what the corporation is describing as a “cost saving exercise.” The WSC told MaltaToday that it would be saving around Lm1,000 per day since the plant will be run “at no extra cost to the WSC.”
The Italians claim that since August none of the Corporation’s engineers had been assigned to the plant for training so that a proper hand-over exercise could be undertaken. It was only in the last two weeks of December that the WSC engineers were given a hand-over and by 1 January when the plant was completely in the hands of the Corporation it stopped pumping water to the reservoirs.
The WSC Chief Executive Officer denied that the WSC does not have the right personnel to ensure proper efficient running of the facility, saying that this claim was unfounded and “originated from the contractor’s (Galva SpA) attempt to hold on to his lucrative contract.”
The contract had been given to the Italians by the Works Division when it was still responsible for the sewage treatment plant.
The WSC CEO said the supply of second-class water from the treatment plant was restored on Tuesday 18 January. Purified water from the plant is used by farmers in the area and factories at the Bulebel industrial estate.
Meanwhile, MaltaToday is informed that the WSC has recently requested the Italian company to provide its engineers with training. After an exchange of proposals Galva SpA is purported to have made its final offer on 19 January.
kurt@newsworksltd.com
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