San Anard chosen as site for sewage plant

Xghajra set to lose open space as sewage plant is relocated to accommodate Smart City

James Debono and Karl Stagno-Navarra

A series of questions put to government by MaltaToday prompted Minister Austin Gatt to call a press conference yesterday, announcing Cabinet’s decision to move the prospected sewage treatment plant from Rikasoli to Ta’ Barkat, just a stone’s throw away from San Anard fortress in the picturesque open space on the Xghajra coastline.
While newly-appointed Water Services Corporation chief exec­utive Mark Muscat confirmed the wastewater treatment plant is set to treat two-thirds of all the sewage produced in Malta, Minister Gatt said that though a decision has been taken to relocate the sewage plant and an outline plan to be presented to MEPA, “government will start to discuss with the Xghajra local council”.
Originally the government planned to locate the plant next to the Wied Ghammieq sewage outfall, but this area is now earmarked for the construction of luxury villas outlined in the SmartCity project – to which the Dubai investors “immediately told us they would not want a sewage plant in the midst of it,” Austin Gatt said.
In a previous interview with MaltaToday Gatt would not reveal the location of the site but he acknowledged that a site had been identified.
But as the Xghajra local council is still in the dark, government has decided at Cabinet level to “compensate” the impact by instruc­ting Ministers Ninu Zammit and Jes­mond Mugliett to “prioritise” the area for infrastructure embellish­ment.
In a recent interview with Malta­Today, Austin Gatt had refused to disclose the location of the sewage treatment plant, however he announced that a tender for the construction of a tunnel, diverting sewage from the Marsa pumping station to the new sewage treatment plant, had been issued. According to Gatt the tunnel will be terminating outside Smart City where the new plant will be sited.
Xghajra move
While Austin Gatt previously stated that consultation with the Xghajra local council had started, Xghajra mayor Anthony Valvo acknowledges that contacts with Gatt’s ministry are ongoing and that they were informed on the need to re-site the sewage treatment plant.
The mayor said he learnt that San Anard had been identified after a number of agricultural leases on the site were terminated. “But when we asked the ministry for details, we were told that the government has not taken a final decision on the site,” Valvo said.
The Labour mayor insists he has no intention of putting the spokes in the wheels of the Smart City project, insisting that his sole aim is that of getting the best package for the Xghajra community from the government.
“We have presented a package of proposals through which Xghajra will benefit from the Smart City project. But we have still not received an official reply.”
The mayor is mostly concerned that the re-siting of the plant will result in an increase of traffic passing through the centre of Xghajra. “We foresee that as many as 20 trucks carrying sludge from the new plant to Sant Antnin will have to pass through the centre of the locality.”
According to the mayor the cons­truc­tion of a road linking Xghajra directly to Marsaskala will solve this problem. Yet the construction of a new road could further ruin the environment in the area.
He also expressed his concern that the San Anard site is very close to a residential block where eight families live, a point that Austin Gatt confirmed in yesterday’s press conference, and insisted that the prospected site will keep the 150 metre distance as is the required minimum distance imposed by EU standards.
EU compliance
Malta has to comply with the EU’s Urban Wastewater Directive deadline of 31 March 2007. The directive bans the disposal of untreated sewage in the sea as is presently happening at Wied Ghammieq.
Although it would be impossible to construct the south treatment plant by that date, Gatt insists that Malta will still fulfil its obligations if it presents its plans for the construction of the plant by that date.
Answering to this, Austin Gatt explained that the San Anard sewage plant will be operational by the end of 2008, while the two other sewage treatment plants currently being built in Gozo and Mellieha would be ready by March next year.
The San Anard sewage plant is estimated to cost EUR62 million (Lm26.7m), with an estimated running cost of EUR3 million (Lm1.3m) a year.
Government is expected to apply for EU structural funds, where up to 70 per cent of financing could be obtained, once the project is purely environmental.
According to WSC chief Mark Muscat, the plant in San Anard will be drastically smaller than what originally had been planned in Rikasoli.
Both Austin Gatt and Mark Muscat insisted that the most important thing the local council and residents must understand, is that for the first time ever, the Southern coastline from Marsascala to Kalkara will finally be cleared of danger due to a polluted sea.
“The technology we are about to invest in amongst the best available, and we will make sure that we will correct decades of pollution in the area,” Austin Gatt concluded.

jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt