The NGO Graffitti has hit out at inaction by the government and regulatory bodies amid complaints by residents of Iklin, San Ġwann and other localities over noxious emissions from the Bitmac tarmac-making plant at the edge of the two localities.

Smells have been plaguing the area for years, with residents telling Times of Malta they have recently become unbearable.

Graffitti said on Wednesday that public authorities were passing the buck.

The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) was saying it lacked the authority to regulate such plants and did not have responsibility for public health. Instead, it was directing people to the Environment Health Directorate, which was also denying responsibility. Even worse, the directorate could only take action if complainants were prepared to give evidence in court and prove illness caused by emissions from the plant.  

Graffitti said ERA was forgetting that it was the body delegated by law to monitor air quality. 

The group said that calls for action by the environment and health ministries had also fallen on deaf ears, with Health Minister Chris Fearne only saying in parliament that studies were underway to determine if the emissions constituted a tangible health hazard.

The NGO said such dragging of feet was unacceptable while hundreds of people were poisoned in their own homes. 

It was also amazing that this country still lacked proper regulation for such asphalt plants, enabling them to operate as they pleased without adequate filtration and emission control systems.

The group wondered if the lack of action by the authorities was a result of connections by the owners of the Bitmac plant, to the detriment of the health of thousands of people.