Ministers will on Tuesday discuss possible solutions to solve an excavation waste crisis, with roadworks across the island having ground to a halt on Monday.
In a notice sent to contractors last Friday, Infrastructure Malta chief executive Fredrick Azzopardi informed all contractors engaged with the agency that they will have to stop all works as of Monday morning.
According to the notice, seen by Times of Malta, the decision was taken “due to lack of availability in dumping sites for the disposal of construction and demolition waste”.
The Environment and Resources Authority, however, was quick to respond, issuing a statement barely an hour later insisting there are already dozens of quarries permitted to accept construction waste with applications for new dumping sites also being processed by authorities.
Cabinet sources told Times of Malta that the issue of dumping of construction and excavation waste has been up for “heated” discussion in the last few meetings held among ministers at the Auberge de Castille.
Road works have ground to a halt.“This is something of a hot debate right now, it boils down to which ministry will have to step into a minefield of quarry owners and developers – it’s about big money,” one minister said.
The price of dumping in privately-run quarries has doubled in recent years, as a housing boom was coupled with a major push for public works.
Sources said that as a result, contractors were refusing to fork out the extra cost and instead leaving huge mounds of waste at existing roadworks sites or, even worse, dumping them illegally.
Infrastructure Malta has faced repeated reports that its contractors were caught dumping waste in the countryside or privately-owned fields.
Sources said one possible solution could be for the government to take over a number of privately-run quarries and bring down the cost of dumping.
“The government owns around half the quarries on the island. Why should the government, and ultimately the taxpayer, foot the bill for soaring dumping costs tied to public projects when it can manage the supply of dumping sites itself?” one Cabinet source said.
The possibility of taking over government-owned, privately-run quarries had already been mooted last year. And, last September the environment minister at the time, José Herrera, had said he wanted to force quarries to accept construction waste at a fixed price.
Meanwhile, on the other side of this issue, some members of Cabinet insist that the private sector should be allowed to regulate itself when it comes to the cost of dumping.
Roadwork projects are at a standstill as of Monday. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli“This is essentially a private sector matter so why should the government get involved? The economy can regulate itself and should continue to do so,” one minister said.
Developers are keen on pushing for land reclamation as a way to deal with inert waste – something they have been angling for over the years.
The sources, meanwhile, said that ERA will soon roll out regulatory measures to bring the quarrying sector. This however is not expected to include price capping measures.