1.6m tonnes of construction waste in nine months

During the first nine months of the year, a total of 1.6 million tonnes of construction waste has been deposited in various disused quarries undergoing rehabilitation.

This waste would have been deposited at Maghtab had it not been for government intervention last year to stop construction waste from entering Maghtab. Once the rehabilitation is complete, most of these quarries are used for agricultural purposes.

The quarries under rehabilitation at present are the ones at Lapsi, Zebbiegh, Zurrieq and Qrendi.

The rehabilitation of disused quarries has also helped alleviate some of the inconvenience of Maghtab residents as a total of 400 trucks daily are now being diverted to other localities.

Although this has created an inconvenience in other localities, this is only short-term and the long-term benefits are much greater. While some quarries can take up to two years to be rehabilitated, other smaller ones are filled within three to four weeks.

Speaking about the quarries' rehabilitation, WasteServe's Head of Strategy and Development, Dr Christopher Ciantar, said some of the disused quarries, which have been an eyesore for many years, were finally being rehabilitated.

"After years of hard work and planning, we are now finally seeing rewards of our decision. With the number of construction projects currently on the increase, more quarries are expected to be rehabilitated shortly," he said.