Pullicino Orlando believes temporary landfill proposal will be shelved

Common sense will prevail and the much-debated proposal to create two new landfills in unused quarries close to Mnajdra will be shelved, Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando believes.

Contacted by The Sunday Times, Dr Pullicino Orlando yesterday claimed he had the backing of other Nationalist MPs and top party officials to oppose the creation of two temporary landfills.

But the outspoken Nationalist backbencher, who preferred not to name his colleagues who are against the proposal, made it clear that he was not putting pressure on anybody. He said he had been approached personally.

Dr Pullicino Orlando has been at loggerheads with Resources and Infrastructure Minister Ninu Zammit who had announced a proposal to use two quarries in the limits of Qrendi as temporary landfills for domestic waste.

The quarries will be used for about two years, until another site at Ghallis, in the limits of Naxxar, is ready to replace Maghtab, which will be closed by the time Malta joins the European Union in May.

Dr Pullicino Orlando appreciated the concern aired by Arts Minister Jesmond Mugliett who last week said he believed that only one of the two quarries earmarked for use as temporary landfills was required.

He supported the minister's proposal to consider the possibility of rehabilitating the disused quarry in question by filling it with inert waste.

But Dr Pullicino Orlando said he believed the proposal should be extended to include both the disused quarries, thus ensuring that the site is completely protected.

Instead, he is urging Government to develop the other temporary site at Ghallis at once.

This would mean limiting the inevitable negative effects of any landfill to a site which is committed to long term use anyway, he said.

Shifting the site to Ghallis at once would save the government hundreds of thousands of liri which would be required to develop two temporary sites.

Dr Pullicino Orlando said he knew this proposal would be technically feasible, provided work on the site starts at once.

People in the quarrying industry had told him that they can create a quarry the size of the two earmarked sites off Mnajdra in months - provided they are given the go-ahead at once.

An Environmental Impact Assessment at Ghallis has already been carried out and therefore obtaining the required permits should not take long.

He said he had made a proposal to this effect to a parliamentary committee earlier this month.

"If this proposal is not accepted I would still go for another quarry, even one which is still operational, rather than risk damaging the unique Mnajdra site," he argued.

In the meantime, the site should be developed into an archaeological park as soon as possible as suggested by Mr Mugliett, he said.

Dr Pullicino Orlando disagreed with the Infrastructure Ministry for "spending public funds" by trying to influence the media and taking them to visit a particular landfill in the UK when it was well-known that the conditions of waste separation there were completely different.

He is against the full-page adverts to promote the Mnajdra landfills proposal, saying these were ill-timed considering that studies relating to these sites have not been conducted yet.

Dr Pullicino Orlando's campaign has the backing of thousands of residents who have reportedly signed the petition against the temporary landfills.

Up to yesterday over 600 persons had also signed the online petition organised by Friends of the Earth.