A tarmac plant in the limits of Naxxar is making life for residents there a “continuous nightmare”, Malta’s green party said on Saturday.
Members of ADPD gathered at the site on Saturday morning to highlight problems in the area surrounding Bitmac Ltd, the factory in question.
“It is utterly unacceptable that commercial operators continue to disregard the residents’ plight with what seems to be the blessing of the authorities that is turning the residents’ quality of life into a continuous nightmare,” said party chairperson Carmel Cacopardo. D
eputy secretary general Sandra Gauci said that residents in Iklin, Naxxar and Għargħur had been complaining about obnoxious fumes and black dust emerging from the factory for several months, and had reported the matter to authorities. But nothing had been done.
ADPD said that the plant stopped operating at night for much of the electoral campaign. It then came back to life on the evening of March 24, the very last day of the electoral campaign. The party said this, “coincidentally”, happened to be on a day when the media was focused on the end of the campaign and at a time when it was too late for ADPD to flag due to the legally imposed ‘day of silence’ prior to elections.
“The air of impunity that has reigned supreme for so long now in our country and the close connections between political and commercial interests seems to prevail also in this case where the tarmac plant operators are being allowed to do as they please,” the party said.
ADPD deputy chair Mario Mallia said the plant is owned by a "canvasser of a district 8 Labour minister."
Public records show that Bitmac's directors are Vincent Borg, Paul Magro and Anthony Schembri. Shareholding is split between companies owned by those men.
ADPD called on the environmental regular, ERA, to force Bitmac Ltd to immediately install filters to improve air quality in the area, with the plant stopped from operating if the situation could not be improved.
“The residents’ quality of life should be prioritized in practice, and not just with meaningless words. ADPD will be looking into what steps can be taken to safeguard the residents’ rights in the coming days,” concluded Cacopardo.