Brincat reveals litany of environmental shame

The Opposition’s spokesperson for the environment Leo Brincat criticised government for not keeping a number of promises on sustainable development, the environment and climate change.

Brincat said that a number of these were not electoral promises but targets and measures set out by government itself to reach Europe’s 2020 vision on the environment.

“Malta and Gozo need a holistic plan and a roadmap with clear timeframes so that environmental targets are reached,” Brincat said. “The time of empty rhetoric is over.”

He said Malta needed more than just “flowers on roundabouts” to prove that government truly had the environment at heart, and went on to list 16 measures government has yet to implement or finalise.

Brincat said that amongst these was the national environment policy, so far issued for consultation last month; the climate change adaptation policy which should have been finalised this summer, and which had been commissioned over two years ago.

“The Sustainable Development law should have been passed in parliament in the first months of 2011. Even though the first reading took place, the law has not yet been published and no discussions have taken place in parliament,” Brincat said.

He added that government has not yet given a rundown of the measures implemented from the strategy approved in parliament in October 2009 to mitigate climate change.

Brincat said government has not yet given a valid reason to justify the number of times it had not submitted statistics and other important data on the environment and waste to the European Environment Agency.

He went on to say that even though government has promised that part of the Delimara Power  Station will start operating next year, “government has not yet received the necessary environment permits for the Delimara Power Station to operate.”

Likewise, he said government is considering it as a state-of-fact that the Sikka l-Bajda wind farm project is viable, even though environment studies have not yet been completed.

Brincat criticised the fact that the Parliamentary Committee on the black dust has met only once whilst MEPA has not yet carried out any conclusive studies. He added that at the same time, government has cancelled its own precipitator tender for the Delimara Power Station, even though they were to be financed by the EU.

He also lamented that even though in last year’s budget government had announced measures to encourage the use of electric cars, it had not published the strategic report and government itself admitted that no such cars have been sold so far.

“Whilst Gonzi’s government has also boasted of establishing a number of green jobs working  groups, as yet Malta has no targets or a clear and public strategy over the creation of such jobs.”

He added that MEPA has barely used EU funds allocated to promote alternative energy and educate on the issue.

“It is not even clear whether government has given a satisfactory answer to the EU over clarifications asked about Malta’s action plan to have 10% of the energy derived from alternative energy by 2020.”

Brincat also shed doubt on ‘Eco-Gozo’ and added that he was skeptical after the Minister for Gozo, Giovanna Debono, approved the Hondoq ir-Rummien project.

“Gozo’s Minister has not yet published the full document on Eco-Gozo even though it has been finalised ages ago,” he said.

Brincat recalled the toxic waste landfill promised by government when Nationalist MP Franciz Zammit Dimech was minister for the environment and said that not even the necessary environment permits have been issued.

Finally, Brincat said, neither Minister George Pullicino nor Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco have answered to the PL’s challenge and issued a statement in their name on the allegations of fraud in the waste packaging sector.