Chamber says private sector being crowded out of waste management

The Malta Chamber of Commerce and Industry said today that the proposed update of the Waste Management Strategy did not follow on the recommendations of the 2001 document and rather than being an update, it was actually a business strategy for WasteServ Malta.

"The creation of WasteServ has somewhat distorted the waste management market, a market which could have otherwise opened a number of opportunities for the private sector. The new document specifically mentions that WasteServ should act as an operator of last resort ,but since Wasteserv’s inception, the private sector can attest that very often this is not the case. If further proof was required, this document relentlessly confirms that this public entity will continue to further enlarge its operations. It is envisaged that through Wasteserv’s expansion it will continue to crowd out the private sector. Competition between the private sector and any entity financed through tax payers’ money can never be on a level playing field," the Chamber said.

It said the 2001 document made a number of recommendations with specific measurable targets and completion dates. No review of such results had been presented in the current paper and as such there was no baseline on which one could establish developments in this sector.

The Chamber said ti was of the opinion that this strategy was incomplete in that it did not give a review of what had been achieved since 2001 and as such it was very difficult to ascertain the improvements the country had achieved in this area.