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Kurt Sansone
The Marsaskala local council will be ready to reconsider its position against the construction of a new composting facility instead of the Sant Antnin recycling plant if Wasteserv amends the planning application to state that the current structure will not be completely demolished and the new facility will be processing just 71,000 tonnes of waste, according to the locality’s mayor.
Speaking to MaltaToday, Marsaskala Mayor Charlot Mifsud insisted the local council had to see Wasteserv’s official application even though the Malta Environment and Planning Authority web site still lists the original application that talks of demolishing the existing structure and the building of a new composting plant and materials recovery centre.
Mifsud’s comment comes in the wake of a stormy meeting held on 31 March between the Mayor and Marsaskala’s non-governmental organisations during which the Mayor was accused of watering down his position against the proposed development. MaltaToday is informed that at least two organisations walked out of that meeting.
But the Mayor refuted accusations that his opposition to the recycling plant has watered down, insisting that his position is consistent to what the council has been saying for months.
“From public declarations Wasteserv has been making it seems they have changed their position on two key issues. Wasteserv are repeatedly saying the new facility would be treating just 71,000 tonnes of waste instead of the 200,000 tonnes proposed initially and they are also insisting that not all of the current facility will be demolished.
“If the planning application will be amended to reflect these two positions then as a council we will have to take note. It does not mean we will refrain from asking for certain safeguards and guarantees.
“When the application was submitted initially the council had asked for certain safeguards. It was when Wasteserv changed their application to demolish Sant Antnin to be able to process 200,000 tonnes that objections were raised. If Wasteserv amends its application one more time to reflect our concerns than I am consistent with my position if I say that the council will have to take note,” Mifsud told MaltaToday.
All local councils of the second, third, fourth and fifth electoral districts except the Nationalist-led Safi council are in the process of forming an association to deal with the proposed composting facility. Mifsud said the process to get this association going is moving ahead and the Marsaskala, Zabbar and Zejtun councils would be forming a sub-committee within the association.
kurt@newsworksltd.com
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