Zwejra: Neither fish nor foul

In his contribution to The Times (July 21), Environment Minister George Pullicino again failed to answer any of the questions on waste management policy I raised in my previous articles.

The minister avoids comments on the problems of contamination resulting from centralising composting activity at the Sant'Antnin plant. He avoids any comment on the fact that Scott Wilson, a company commissioned by WasteServ Ltd to draw up a report on landfills, gave exceptional importance to landfill gas emissions while practically ignoring other environmental problems. This ensured its involvement in the tendering process for the landfill gas extraction system. In fact, the tender document includes technical drawings bearing the logo of Scott Wilson!

Mr Pullicino also fails to convince us as to why gas emissions at Maghtab have become a priority over other contamination problems affecting ground water and coastal areas. Notwithstanding, the minister concedes that "the investigation identified elevated concentration of certain contaminants in groundwater around Maghtab". This statement sharply contrasts what Chris Ciantar from WasteServ had said in this newspaper a few weeks ago when he assured us that ground water contamination at Maghtab is well within the regulatory limits for drinking water!

Mr Pullicino also makes some interesting statements about the growing mountain of waste accumulating at Ta' Zwejra, a facility opened about a year ago. He assures us that "Zwejra was developed as a temporary waste storage facility" and that it "was engineered to the highest specification and, as a result, an attempt was made to convert this into a permanent facility" (July 21).

Rarely has so much deception been distilled in such few words.

Firstly, the EU specifications for a temporary waste storage facility are very rudimentary, precisely because the facility is considered temporary and its environmental impact limited! Secondly, Mr Pullicino admits that the decision to make Zwejra permanent was an afterthought, just an "attempt". One cannot construct a temporary waste storage site and later "attempt" to turn it into a permanent engineered landfill site!

EU regulations on engineered landfills are clearly defined and present the significant difference between a temporary waste storage site and an engineered landfill. Indeed, it is impossible to start with the former and end with the latter at the same site!

Mr Pullicino fails to assure us that Zwejra conforms to the EU's landfill regulations and, consequently, its efficacy to contain toxic liquids is unknown and not comparable to other sites in Europe where state-of-the-art engineered landfills are operating. Ultimately, Mr Pullicino is confirming that Zwejra is neither fish nor foul. It is neither a temporary site nor a permanent engineered landfill!

In the case of Maghtab, Mr Pullicino concludes that capping this mountain of waste is ineffective. He supports his claim by weak arguments while avoiding the real reason. Mr Pullicino will not admit that during the PN administration, Maghtab was allowed to grow in a haphazard manner, sprawling huge finger-like extensions with steep gradients.

The present topography of Maghtab (readily visible from the air by helicopter) is most unfavourable for capping. Mr Pullicino should admit that PN incompetence is the real reason why capping Maghtab is so technically challenging.

Finally, the minister easily rids himself of the problem by reminding us that EU regulations on landfills (which stipulate the capping of landfills) only apply to operative landfills in the EU. It has to be borne in mind that Maghtab was conveniently declared "closed" by the PN administration a day before Malta's accession to the EU, thereby making capping legally unnecessary! Citizens are not easily fooled by these antics. The exposed mountain of waste at Maghtab is neither fish nor foul. It is officially a closed landfill but remains a serious health and environmental problem, greater than any operative landfill.

There are consequences to the modus operandi of Mr Pullicino's ministry. It has greatly diminished public confidence in waste management initiatives because it reveals the government's unprofessional and irresponsible approach to the waste problem. It has also generated through the years reasonable mistrust from local environmental NGOs. Not surprisingly, NGOs shot down the first version of the Solid Waste Management Strategy by the Danish consultants Carl Bro, which advocated incineration as the principal waste disposal method for Malta.

Of course, in Denmark incineration is favoured over land filling because people are confident that their government ensures continually high environmental standards for emissions. Not so in Malta (as in other countries) where public confidence in government and its ability to maintain environmental standards has been eroded by the type of antics repeatedly perpetrated by Mr Pullicino and the PN administration.

Mr Pullicino prefers to ignore the predicament in which he has placed himself with the public and finds false solace in prematurely concluding that a point of discord on waste incineration exists within the Labour Party's ranks! He refers to Joe Brincat's favourable comments on waste incineration and contrasts these to my comment that this may be a "dangerous option".

Mr Pullicino is advised that Labour's environmental policy does not rule out waste incineration but places it as a "last option" because we know that first we have to walk a long and arduous road in waste management, a road that is already littered with failures compounded by the PN administration. (Who can forget the proposed landfills at Mnajdra?)

Our present dismal state of waste management practices makes waste incineration a dangerous option unless several issues, namely waste separation and public confidence, are set right. In view of this, Dr Brincat's favourable declarations on waste incineration do not contradict Labour's environmental policy as insinuated by Mr Pullicino but elaborate on a possibility mentioned in Labour's environment document that can be considered in the long-term when a Labour government will have implemented a rational waste management framework.

Mr Pullicino advises me to ignore "whispers in the air" (July 21). I cannot ignore the chorus of voices and the protests of citizens on what is happening at Maghtab, Zwejra, the Sant'Antnin composting plant and elsewhere. As a responsible politician, I have to listen. My advice to Mr Pullicino as Minister for the Environment is to do the same. When he removes the earplugs he will also begin to hear the loud protests of citizens around him and which he now perceives as only whispers in the air!

Mr Mizzi is the MLP's main spokesman on infrastructural services.