Residents, farmers and workers in an area close to a disused quarry in Mqabba are surprised a proposal to relocate a tarmac factory there went under their radar.

Since plans for the relocation went viral last month, people who live and work in the area have expressed concern about the long-term impact of such a factory on their health and the produce grown in the surroundings.

An application by BIP Ltd to relocate the tarmac and concrete batching plant from Ħal Far to Ix-Xaghri l-Imqalleb, in Mqabba was filed in July 2021. BIP Ltd is owned by Sandra Axiak and Francesca Penza, daughters of contractor Carmel Penza.

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage is opposed to the proposed development that would commit the area and prevent its rehabilitation.

“This office remains favourable to the rehabilitation of quarried areas in order to restore back the cultural landscape,” it said in its objection.

The PA’s case officer has recommended that the transfer is approved but the application hearing, originally scheduled for November 14, was postponed as public scrutiny of the decision intensified.

Times of Malta is informed a meeting between the authority and the local councils of the surroundings is being held in the coming days.

The local councils of Qrendi, Mqabba, Safi, Rabat, Żurrieq, Kirkop and Siġġiewi have already declared they are against the plant’s relocation and residents and activists on Sunday met in protest, saying plans to relocate the plant were “madness”.

Over the past week, residents, farmers and people who work in the area told Times of Malta they never spotted the notice that should have been put on site informing passers-by about the proposed development.

Activist Wayne Flask said a large number of residents only learnt about the application recently and, therefore, could not officially object to the proposal: “While the application was filed during the pandemic, it is strange that an application for such a plant, filed in 2021, does not have any official objections.

“It is also surprising that the case officer’s recommendation was submitted in September when the construction of new builds had already started.”

'Area had already been exploited'

Qrendi resident Ronnie Micallef said the area had already been exploited more than enough by quarries, dust and waste dumping for a long time.

Residents and workers concerned about the plant’s impact on their health and the possible noise pollution said they feared they would face the same fate as that experienced by San Ġwann and Iklin residents who, for three years, have been plagued by a toxic smell of tarmac that infiltrates closed windows at night from a similar plant. 

Apart from residences that activists say are within 500 metres of the new plant, new builds that are still in construction phase are even closer to the area. There are also several fields tilled by farmers close to the disused quarry and a chicken farm housing some 25,000 chickens.

Mqabba mayor Grace Marie Zerafa said the Planning Authority had not officially informed the council by e-mail about the development.

From its end, the council has told the PA it was against the relocation of the plant there, she said.

The council is considering taking all necessary steps to ensure the application is immediately withdrawn in the interest of Siġġiewi residents and families, as well as of residents and families of the localities impacted by the proposed project- Siġġiewi mayor Dominic Grech

There are at least two petitions objecting to the development: one set up by the Mqabba council and another by a Qrendi resident.

An online version of the Mqabba petition, called Protecting our Environment and the Residents’ Health, has garnered 640 signatures while the council is urging residents with no online access to sign it at its offices or a number of shops in the locality.

The other online petition, with over 2,500 signatures so far, is calling on the authorities to explore alternative locations where the plant “won’t pose such direct harm to residential areas”.

Earlier this week, the Siġġiewi mayor said the locality’s council was joining forces with the neighbouring councils to ensure the project did not “materialise”.

“Additionally, the council is considering taking all necessary steps to ensure the application is immediately withdrawn in the interest of Siġġiewi residents and families, as well as of residents and families of the localities impacted by the proposed project,” Mayor Dominic Grech said. The local council also urged better enforcement on irregular plants and quarries in the area.