The National Audit Office has been asked to audit the country's use of millions in EU funding to treat raw sewage. 

In a letter to the Auditor General sent on Saturday afternoon, MEP candidate Peter Agius said it appears Malta has not hit several of the “clear deliverables” that it had committed to when it took European Union funds to build or improve sewage treatment and purification plants.

Malta has received over €60 million in European funds for this purpose, with that figure not including money contributed by the central government. 

Agius' concerns echo those of the European Commission, which in May this year started legal proceedings against Malta for violating the EU's urban waste water directive. 

The European Commission is arguing that Malta is allowing sewage water to be discharged without undergoing secondary treatment and failing to abide by monitoring requirements. 

In its legal filing, it flagged problems with discharges in both Malta's north and south. 

Malta operates two treatment plants in those areas: the Iċ-Ċumnija plant in Mellieħa, and the Ta’ Barkat plant in Żabbar. 

According to EU law, Malta is bound to treat all urban and rural drainage before discharge, in a way that ensures the marine environment is not harmed. 

Malta also obtained EU funding to produce irrigation-quality water for farmers from treated sewage effluent, dubbed 'New Water'.  

“[I]t is clear that practically all of the deliverables Malta committed to when taking on these funds have been broken,” Agius wrote in his letter to the NAO. 

Drainage in the sea

Local health authorities have closed several local beaches over the past year after tests detected the presence of bacteria such as E.coli and Enterococci, which are often byproducts of sewage discharge. 

Agius listed six beaches that have recently been closed or had notices placed regarding the presence of sewage:

• Saint George’s Bay
• Balluta Bay
• Qajjenza Bay
• Buġibba Bay
• Fond Għadir Bay
• Qui Si Sana Bay

Old water for farmers

One of the deliverables that the EU expected from the Maltese government in exchange for its funding outlay was the daily production and distribution of “New Water” which farmers would be able to rely on to irrigate their crops.

But farmers have regularly reported that 'New Water' taps are running dry. 

Agius said that the result was that the livelihoods of farmers who have come to rely on the additional water source is at stake. 

“Farmers from Żabbar, Mellieħa and Gozo who were relying on New Water ended up losing crops because water did not come every day.

“In several cases, water only came once a week which is useless for farmers with summer crops as they need regular irrigation,” Agius said while offering to share contacts of affected farmers with the NAO.

“We are witnessing a situation either of incompetence or a lack of planning or both at once,” Agius said.

He asked the NAO to carry out a performance audit of EU-funded waste water facilities, arguing that the public deserves a transparent account of how public funds had been spent. 

“The leadership of the government and/or the authorities concerned are depriving citizens of [their right to a better environment] thanks to their incompetence, carelessness or other types of negligence.

“I therefore ask the Auditor General’s office to verify the facts I have presented through a performance audit linked to the mentioned European funds,” Agius wrote.