Having lived in Maghtab for 16 years I feel qualified to offer sympathy to the residents whose lives are being disrupted by the activities generated by the Sant' Antnin waste facility.
Maghtab/Ta' Zwejra is by far the largest waste storage and disposal facility in Malta. Appreciating that the Sant' Antnin plant is a relatively recent addition to the local waste disposal industry, due consideration should be given to the fact that the Maghtab local communities have for 30 years had their environment and lives disrupted by the unregulated disposal of waste material within the waste facility.
After much publicity regarding the closure of Maghtab, a hole was excavated in the south side of the old Maghtab dump and a new waste facility called Ta' Zwejra was discovered. The waste management publicity machine keeps emphasising that we now have engineered waste storage at Maghtab.
The engineered bits of the facility do not reduce the disruption or improve the quality of life for the long-suffering community. To achieve the space required for the engineered waste storage area a massive amount of unregulated and unknown previously dumped waste material and the underlying limestone (Mepa permits PA 03141/04 and PA 06448/04) has and still is being excavated. The dust and smell generated by this work is and has been far worse than that previously experienced from the uncontrolled dump.
As far as information available at this time leads us to believe, the statutory compliance testing and health and safety risks involved in this operation have not been researched or applied. Requests and the dates for local air and water table contamination tests have been made to the environmental section of Mepa, but as yet no information has been forthcoming.
Malta's joining the European Union should make a vast difference to the emissions and quality of life for the local population. The directives that have been adopted regulating the management and control of waste facilities are quite tough. If they were applied with conviction by the competent authority, life for the residents would not be a dream but it would cease to be the nightmare that it is at this time. These directives are primarily to protect the environment and reduce to a minimum any pollution of the waste facility areas together with the need to reduce any disruptions to the local population.
The erection of traffic signs restricting the passage of waste facility vehicles through Maghtab village was a positive step that should have improved the quality of life for the families living on and adjacent to these roads. Approximately three months have past since these traffic signs have been erected and to our knowledge no waste-related vehicles have been either stopped or cautioned by the local traffic regulatory authority for passage though the village past these prominently displayed signs. A considerable amount of time has been spent trying to establish who is responsible for the enforcement of the traffic restrictions but as yet nobody has put their hand up so that the local resident can establish a working relationship with them.
A quite recent innovation has been structured meetings between the representatives of the Maghtab local community, Wasteserv management, environment ministry officials and the minister. It is still "early days" to judge if these meetings will progressively remove the problems and disruptions presently being experienced in and around the waste facilities. Some of the more pessimistic members of our community are giving out plenty of negative waves as to the resolve and commitment of the waste management authorities to put right the many problems now being experienced. I for sure would like a magic wand waved to right the 30 plus years of bad and irresponsible waste disposable policies but it is not possible to change working attitudes or the mentality overnight.
If the local communities undergoing disruption are given the help, cooperation and required funds by the government, possibly a structured recovery to an acceptable standard of life could be achieved. Everybody connected with the control, application and long-term planning of not just waste management but all issues connected and related to the preservation of the environment in these islands needs to work cohesively.
The authorities need to act now; they need to come out to all the affected areas and see for themselves what is really happening, not visit pre-published propaganda exercises and demonstrations. Any interested groups, MEPs, MPs or the inspectors from Mepa who wish to have a conducted tour of the real waste facilities, not the imaginary variety projected in the press at this time by the various commentators, please contact the Maghtab Residents Association research information section through our committee. Tel. 21414071. jane@melita.net.