Ħal Farruġ residents were “let down” by the authorities on the issue of fuel tanks located so close to their homes, Joseph Muscat has admitted.
“While I was assured that safety standards were met, I felt we let these families down by putting these tanks where they are,” the former prime minister said.
His comment comes after residents filed a complaint to the European Commission about the proximity of these tanks to their homes as well as the accompanying safety concerns.
The complaint, which is being made by MEP candidate Peter Agius on behalf of the residents, says the placement of the tanks is in breach of the European Seveso Direction, which stipulates that facilities with the potential for serious incidents must be at least 500 metres away from residential areas.
The Ħal Farruġ tanks are only 110 metres away from the complainants’ homes.
In a notarised statement made as part of the complaint, the residents said they felt “deceived” by the politicians who visited them about the matter, naming Muscat, as well as minister Silvio Schembri and his father Luqa mayor John Schembri, and former minister Konrad Mizzi.
In comments to Times of Malta, Muscat said that when the application was filed, he was informed that nobody had objected to the development.
“I went to see the development privately for myself and thought that the Ħal Farruġ residents were right to protest. I said so both internally within the government and publicly,” Muscat said.
After inquiring whether it would be possible to relocate the tanks, Enemed replied that it would be difficult and expensive to do so, Muscat continued.
In light of this, he said he had asked for compensatory measures to be put into place. These were the installation of solar panels for the benefit of the families and introducing cladding to reduce the visual impact of the tanks.
“I went personally to meet these families in the run-up to the European Parliament and local council elections in 2019. I told them privately and also at a public event, that I think they were right in protesting and I would not blame them if they chose not to vote. I said that whatever they decided to do, we would start the process to put in place these measures. It’s the least we could do,” he said.
Muscat said that as far as he was aware, these promises were on track to be implemented but that he “does not know the state of play” since leaving office.
In their complaint, the residents impacted by the tanks said they felt a “huge injustice” was imposed upon them by deception.
Times of Malta has previously reported that the Luqa council distanced itself from the pledge of reimbursing residents through a yearly €500 grant as compensation for the placement of the tanks.
In 2019, mayor Schembri sent out a mailshot to residents, in which he said that an agreement had been reached to invest €3 million in a solar farm, which would, in turn, subsidise the energy grant for residents.