MDA strongly objects to government’s intention to use quarries to dump construction waste

​The Malta Developers Association reacted to the environment minister's warning that he may take over quarries and use them for dumping waste purposes 

The Malta Developers Association (MDA) strongly objected to the government’s intention to use the powers of a Legal Notice in order to expropriate excavation voids and use them for dumping waste purposes.

In a statement, the MDA referred to the environment minister’s warning that he may take over quarries which do not accept the dumping of building debris, as is in their licence condition. The comment was made by minister Jose' Herrera in a TVM interview last week.

The MDA said that quarry owners should not be blamed for this, saying that most of the quarries are still being exploited to produce raw material for building purposes.

“Building contractors have been co-operating with the authorities on the disposal of building waste and MDA assures the Minister that such co-operation has led to the problem of building waste being minimised as much as possible while urging the Government to come up with a long-term solution,” MDA said.

The MDA called for an urgent consultation meeting with Minister Josè Herrera during which the existing waste problem – which includes industrial and domestic waste, besides building waste – would be discussed and a sustainable solution would be found.