Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia on Tuesday talked up Malta's waste-to-energy plans, saying a €0.5 billion investment would help the country turn waste into a resource.

Speaking in Parliament during the 2021 budget estimates for his ministry, Farrugia said the Ecohive project to develop a large-scale waste management facility at Magħtab would eventually lead to the government’s vision of transforming Malta’s rubbish dumps into parks.

Through Ecohive, Wasteserv plans to convert waste that would otherwise go to the landfill into energy. Farrugia said the plant would contribute 4.5% of Malta's total energy supply.  

Farrugia said that after the drawing up of a fuel stations policy, which had been praised by all, the government is now working on a rural policy, to be finalised and announced soon.

Intelligent, quality development

Major importance is to be given to the construction industry as the country comes out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We want intelligent and quality development but we will not destroy investment or development... We want more efficiency from the Environment and Resources Authority and the Planning Authority... We plan to reduce bureaucracy while respecting policies... This is a moment of trial, we have to see what we can do better,” Farrugia said.

The minister said €1.5 million are being spent on 40 projects of green and blue infrastructure. Vertical green walls are being created including at the Marsa-Ħamrun bypass through a €650,000 investment and also at the Mosta, Marsa and Corradino industrial zones. More calls are also to be issued in coming months.

€2 million are being dedicated to urban greening projects through which people will be encouraged to green their facades. This will be followed by the green roofs initiative.

Nature parks and sites

On Natura 2000 sites, Farrugia said that six guardianship deals are being signed with non-governmental organisations in the coming days. He said that calls for offers had been issued for a management plan of the Nwadar park.

Rangers had been engaged for surveillance at these sites, protecting them from vandalism while also educating the public. A call for more rangers is also to be issued.

The minister said that the ERA will be replacing a large number of its cars to electric ones.

On plastics, the minister said that importers and retails had agreed to fork out €150 million to recover more than 70% of containers placed on the market. A factory for this purpose is being built at Ħal Far. Malta, he said, will be among the first countries banning first the importation and then the use of single-use plastics.

The minister said that this government had finalised a low carbon development strategy and is moving into a new phase of studies for a mass transportation system and towards climate-friendly buildings.

Climate change is an opportunity - Miriam Dalli

Labour MP Miriam Dalli called for the climate change challenge to be turned into an opportunity, saying Malta should focus on the transport on the building and construction sectors.

When it came to cleaner vehicles, there was an opportunity to create new jobs in the sector, creating incentives for the use of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Those who could charge at home should be able to do so at favourable rates and there had to be charging pillars for those who could not. The budget proposed initiative for 130 such pillars was a step in the right direction.

Dalli said Malta also had to invest in alternative mobility and incentives for this should be made available. She said that more details would be given about this in the coming weeks.

On building and construction, Dalli said there could be quality construction and sustainability in the built environment and the climate action board was coming up with proposals for the sector.

She noted that unless nothing was done, pollution from this sector could go up to 50% by 2050. But this was another challenge which could also be turned into an opportunity. 

No serious emissions-reducing policy 

Earlier, PN spokesman David Thake said that while the government was burdening people with the responsibility to reduce emissions, it lacked a serious policy for this.

He asked why should the people invest in electric cars when not even the government was doing so. He noted that the government is only offering incentives for 200 electric cars a year when 45 cars a day are being sold.

Moreover, although LPG transport is more sustainable, the cost of LPG at Malta’s fuel stations is always higher than abroad. 

Thake said that while the government is giving the people peanuts for the electricity they produced, it paid millions to energy consortium Electrogas, which he described as "corrupt". This made people question why should they invest in solar panels. Unlimited permits are also being issued creating shadows for people investing in such panels.

On green bonds, he said asked how is the government to ensure transparency in their governance.

"How are the people to trust these bonds when they are afraid they will be used to serve the inner core and following the failure of the blockchain island," he asked.

Thake asked how did the government plan to dispose of electric car batteries and said that alternative means of transport were not just cars but also pedestrian zones and bicycles lanes, which are lacking. Malta also needed good public transport.

Government's lack of vision uncovered

Nationalist MP Kevin Cutajar said the budget continued to uncover the government’s lack of vision in the environment, with the government trying to stick to construction as the only remaining anchor for the Maltese economy. Although the sector was important, it was not fundamental and it was being undermined with bureaucracy.

He called for a holistic plan for the country and noted that close to 700 permits in outside development zones were handed out in Gozo since 2017.

Independent MP Godfrey Farrugia said the starting point for the environment should be to give the ERA the same rights as the PA.

There should be sustainable development that is complementary to the people’s health, he said.

Nationalist MP Toni Bezzina said councils are only being provided with 70% of the necessary funds to look after and embellish open spaces. He called for this allocation to rise to 100%.

He noted that people who built without a permit are being charged the same fines as those who did but had slight issues. He also called for consistency in decisions among the different case officers.