A Nationalist MP who implied that children at a Ħamrun school were getting sick due to dirty water in drinking fountains has been accused of spreading misinformation by the Education Ministry. 

Justin Schembri asked “if it is true” that filters at drinking fountains at San Ġorġ Preca College were not being changed and that as a result “children are falling ill”. 

“I ask if it is true that many of the water fountains are not working because they are out of order, or because the water is not safe to drink,” he posted in a public comment on his personal Facebook page. 

Schembri, who was elected on the eighth district, is a teacher by profession. 

Schembri first implied drinking water was contaminated, then updated the post after receiving a WSC denial. Photo: Facebook

Soon after posting the comment, Schembri updated it to say that Water Services Corporation CEO Karl Cilia had contacted him to deny all the claims. 

Cilia, Schembri wrote, “told me that the reply to all my questions is ‘no’”. 

That denial was followed by a strongly-worded statement issued by the Education Ministry in which it slammed the Opposition MP for having raised the alarm without prior verification. 

“Baseless statements like these are to be condemned, especially when they come from a public figure,” the ministry said. “Before sharing fake news, one should verify the facts,” it added. 

Drinking fountains were regularly maintained and cleaned, it said, and water quality was also checked. 

Water Services: no such reports

A WSC spokesperson confirmed to Times of Malta that it had received no reports about the issue - or any questions from Schembri before he posted to Facebook.

The spokesperson added that the college's principal also said there were no such reports. 

Schembri would go on to defend himself, writing in a later post that he was glad his questions had been denied but that he wanted to see the proof in writing.

“I invite the ministry to publish the [drinking fountain maintenance] agreement, so we can see when and how these are cleaned,” he wrote. 

“Many people in various schools” had contacted him about this issue and claimed that fountains were not being properly maintained, he alleged.

“I will be keeping the messages I received to myself, for now,” Schembri added.