“I am not saying residents are lying but the smell is not coming from here,” Charlon Gouder announced. “I cannot deny what residents are smelling… but what I can say is that everything is up to standard… odours are not emitted from our plant.”

Gouder, former ONE reporter and now Aquaculture Resource Ltd CEO, was giving reporters a tour of the tuna processing plant in Ħal Far.

That plant is run by a consortium including Charles Azzopardi, (Azzopardi Fisheries), Joseph Caruana (Fish and Fish Ltd) and Saviour Ellul (MFF Ltd). The plant processes heads, spines, tails and entrails of bluefin tuna.

As soon as the plant started operating, Birżebbuġa was bathed in an overwhelming stench of rotten fish. Sewage leaks with fish parts flooded the streets. The company allegedly dumped silage into Wied Żnuber, a protected Natura 2000 site. Moviment Graffitti and Għaqda Storja u Kultura Birżebbuġa wrote to ministers Miriam Dalli and Silvio Schembri in frustration at the “unbearable stench”. Their letter spoke of “squalid conditions”, “sewage leaks”, “extremely dire conditions” and fish remains in Birżebbuġa’s streets.

Residents organised a protest to express their anger. Their pleas for action were ignored. Even Labour mayor Scott Camilleri addressed the protesters lamenting the inadequacy of measures taken.

In October 2022, Dalli and Schembri promised that the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) was looking into the issue. ERA announced it was investigating and conducting monitoring inspections. But that was over two months ago. The stench still lingers, the residents still suffer and ERA hasn’t published any reports.

Schembri stated that INDIS Ltd, the government company responsible for the administration of industrial parks, was working with the factory’s owners and studying remedies to eliminate the problem in the immediate future, admitting that the tuna plant was, in fact, the source of the smell.

Even Gouder admitted that the plant was the source. “At the beginning of operations, there might have been shortcomings,” he conceded. “The first few weeks were a learning curve for everyone.” He justified the company’s shortcomings by revealing that “this is the only blue fin tuna processing plant in the world, so we had no playbook to work from”. Gouder confessed they didn’t have a clue. He even apologised to the resi­dents for the inconvenience.

But, in a sudden change of heart, Gouder decided that the stench has nothing to do with his tuna plant – “the smell is not coming from here”. “ERA ensured standards are met. I can assure you that should there have been any irregularity they would have closed us down,” he added. Of course, ERA would do no such thing. That’s exactly why Gouder has been recruited as CEO. Not because he has any expertise in tuna processing but simply because he’s a Labour insider.

“The profit of the tuna industry can never come before the health and safety of residents and the environment,” Birżebbuġa residents insisted. How wrong they are. In 2021, Malta was the world’s sixth biggest tuna exporter, just behind China. In five years, Malta’s tuna exports increased by almost 600 per cent, far higher than any other nation. No matter how much Birżebbuġa residents complain, there are far bigger interests that eclipse their trivial odour problem. And we all know which side Labour’s on.

Charlon Gouder has resorted to a media campaign blitz, taking journalists on propaganda tours to the tuna processing plant in Ħal Far. Photos: Jonathan Borg

Gouder is now on the offensive. After first admitting his plant was at fault, he’s decided it’s not to blame. He’s resorted to a media campaign blitz, taking journalists on propaganda tours to the plant at a time of his choosing. Journalists are not experts in processing tuna tails and guts. They have no expertise in factory processes. They’re hardly in a position to reach technical conclusions about odours. Yet, many of them were taken in, playing into the hands of Gouder by accepting his invitation and writing favourable reports, some on their front page.

Our Labour government won’t protect us. They’re on Charlon Gouder’s side- Kevin Cassar

That same tactic was used by the Nazis when they took journalists and the International Red Cross to Theresienstadt concentration camp in June 1944. They described the facility as a spa town where elderly Jews could retire. The ghetto was beautified, gardens planted and barracks renovated. They even staged socio-cultural events. They produced a propaganda film depicting the camp as para­dise. But, once the visit ended, the deportation of Theresienstadt Jews to the extermination camps of Auschwitz, Majdanek and Treblinka resumed.

Those journalists were fooled. The company should not be allowed to get away with it. Our Labour government won’t protect us. They’re on Gouder’s side. He was a colleague of Miriam Dalli at ONE TV. He was part of José Herrera’s private secretariat since 2013. In 2018, Gouder became the Federation for Maltese Aquacultural Producers’ CEO.

When Herrera moved to culture, Gouder was given a direct order with the Arts Council and paid €2,500 per month, while still aquaculture CEO. In the meantime, Gouder completed his law degree and set up his private legal practice, AGG Advocates. His partners were Justice Minister Jonathan Attard and the notorious Joe Gerada, who allegedly accompanied Chris Cardona to the Acapulco brothel. Soon after, Gouder was given a publicly funded full-time job by Herrera on a salary of €35,000, while still aquaculture CEO.

Nobody knew where Gouder worked from or what his job was. Not even his CEO, Albert Marshall, knew what Gouder did.

Gouder received another €15,000 direct order for legal services to the Malta Residency Visa Agency. He was also paid to assist government officials testifying before the Caruana Galizia inquiry.

Schembri gave Gouder a €30,000 direct order to provide him with legal services as recently as June 2020.

Schembri is not going to protect Birżebbuġa. Nor is Dalli. Neither is Labour. They’ll always protect business interests before residents. The only way for Birżebbuġa to resolve its problem is to crowdfund and commission international experts to conduct a proper scientific investigation into the source of the stench.

ERA isn’t going to do it. And, if it does, we’ll never see the report. And when we eventually do, we can hardly trust it.