Updated 7.15 p.m.
The Finance Ministry insisted this evening that is was following the law and usual procedure in the process for the privatisation of the Tank Cleaning Farm in Ricasoli. It also insisted that the facility would remain in Ricasoli because no alternative site had been found.
Reacting to comments made in the morning by Opposition spokesman Helena Dalli, the ministry said the call for offers was made in terms of the Disposal of Government Land Act. The same procedure was followed for the transfer of some 70 other sites this year alone. The procedure of a parliamentary resolution was followed only in exceptional cases.
The Ricasoli site is being offered on 30-year emphyteusis
The ministry said that its would have preferred to transfer the activity away from Ricasoli. In 2008 a Request for Proposals for the Provision of Ship Generated Waste Oils was issued. The chosen bidder was to have managed the Ricasoli facility for just two years and then to set up a new facility elsewhere.
There was only one eligible bidder but Mepa did not grant a permit for the site which that applicant had proposed.
Transport Malta then appointed consultants to conduct a site selection study and it was concluded that the only site which satisfied all the Mepa requirements was the existing one at Ricasoli..
The government said it had a legal obligation to provide a port reception facility under the MARPOL convention but it now had no alternative but to use the existing site.
It said the operator could not be made responsible for the maintenance of the adjoining bastions as that would push up costs and therefore, no bidder would apply. That maintenance, therefore, would be handled by the government.
In her press conference, Dr Dalli said the government was ignoring studies it commissioned which proposed alternative sites for the tank cleaning farm and had issued a tender to privatise the farm without seeking Parliamentary approval.
Addressing a news conference, Dr Dalli said that through the tender, which closed this week, the government would be giving away the land for 30 years. This, she said, was another case of bad public administration.
She noted that the government had reports from Mepa and Mimcol saying that the facility was an eyesore and hazardous for the people in the surrounding area. These reports proposed alternative sites for the farm, including an offshore oil tank cleaning facility.
Dr Dalli questioned why the government had commissioned these studies but then ignored them and expressed her disappointment that the tender did not cover the upkeep of Fort Ricasoli and the fortifications around, parts of which were falling into the sea. These were to remain government report.
Dr Dalli noted that the government was proposing turning the area into a tourist attraction but she asked how can this be done if the facility was in the area, to the detriment of people's health.
Asked about the PL's position on the farm, Dr Dalli said Labour agreed with the regeneration of the area but would have looked into the other alternatives mentioned in the reports.
The government, she said, made a u-turn because its original plan was to remove the facility. The PL would have seen what the experts were saying and would not have acted behind Parliament's back.