The government yesterday criticised the statement issued by Labour MEP Joseph Muscat regarding government’s plans for the Sant Antnin recycling plant, describing it as the last in a series of moves aimed at keeping the country from receiving EU funds which cover a substantial part of the investment scheduled for waste management.

Mr Muscat had issued a statement reacting to comments made by the EU Commission in which the Commission denied seeing any irregularities in the proposals for the development of the Sant Antnin recycling plant.

Mr Muscat said, from meetings he had in Brussels with various officials, it seems the Commission may have been given the wrong information.

In a statement issued by the Department of Information yesterday, the government countered by saying that Mr Muscat’s action confirmed that the Opposition’s only aim is to hamper the government’s efforts to develop modern recycling facilities in Marsascala.

“Mr Muscat’s statement follows a letter sent by the Labour-led Zurrieq local council to the EU Commission which was also an attempt to obstruct the millions of Euros allocated to the development of the plant,” the government insisted in its statement.

“One has to point out that it was Mr Muscat who, during a meeting held in Marsascala, came up with the idea to block the funds. Now Mr Muscat was the first to react to the position taken by the commission on the matter. Mr Muscat is trying to confuse public opinion when he says that the information the government gave the commission regarding the recycling plant is wrong.

“Mr Muscat should know that the commission is an autonomous institution which professionally evaluates the information it is given.” Furthermore, the statement invited Mr Muscat to pinpoint the wrong information the government passed on to the commission.

After all, the information given to the commission by the government is the same as that made available during the public consultation process regarding the site’s environmental impact assessment.

This is the same information sent to the stake-holders involved and regarding which these were asked to react, the statement continued. “It is a pity that many of the arguments being raised now were not raised then.”

“Mr Muscat’s reaction is nothing but a pathetic attempt to hamper benefits Maltese citizens could reap from EU membership; which membership the MLP has said it accepts because it is politically convenient and not because it really believes that this is the best way forward.”

This incident shows that there still are people who use partisan politics to undermine the proposals to improve the Sant Antnin Plant. The government intends issuing all the information regarding this issue – yet, it is determined to push ahead with its programme so that the Marsascala residents can benefit from a modern plant as soon as possible, the statement concluded.

However, just a few hours after the government’s statement was issued, Labour MEP Joe Muscat took the government to task and issued his reaction with the information, he thinks, should have been included in the documents given to the EU commission.

“The government should know that the MLP does not want the Maltese people to lose a cent from the EU funds, and the backing given to the government on the just fight for the Objective One status proves it,” he said.

“However, since the government challenged me to say what, in my opinion and that of many others, including environmental experts, is missing in the government’s environmental study regarding Marsascala, I will do so,” he added.

Among the points mentioned in his release, Mr Muscat said that the list of alternative sites was not adequate; the idea to have more than one site instead of a huge single plant was not even considered and the study did not look into the fact that 195 truckloads of garbage will be going through Zejtun, Haz-Zabbar as well as Marsascala, on a daily basis.

He also complained about the fact that there was no risk assessment with regard to the storage of explosive material within the plant; the study did not specify whether the residue from the sewage treatment plant will be treated at the recycling plant; the social impact and the impact on tourist establishments in the area was not considered sufficiently and neither did the study consider sufficiently the fact that the proposed plant would be situated in close proximity to the Razzett tal-Hbiberija and in relative proximity to the schools of Zabbar and Zejtun.