Mr C. Ciantar

In an attempt to clarify the facts for Mario Psaila from Marsascala (TMIS, 13 March) regarding the upgrading of the Marsascala Waste Treatment Plant, WasteServ would like to confirm that the proposed plant will not be receiving all Malta’s rubbish as he claims.

The proposed upgrading includes the installation of a materials recycling facility (MRF) capable of sorting 36,000 tonnes of separately collected recyclables per annum, a digestion plant that will treat 35,000 tonnes of separately collected biodegradable waste and a modular composting plant that will produce compost following the digesting process. The rest of Malta’s waste will be disposed of at Ta’ Zwejra temporarily and at Ghallis once the necessary permits have been granted for this long-term engineered facility. There will also be five civic amenity sites for recyclable bulky waste and these are being proposed in various localities around Malta and Gozo. So it is a myth to say that all the waste will be dumped in the South and that another Maghtab will be built in Marsascala or anywhere else.

The truth is that WasteServ is doing its utmost to upgrade the Marsascala plant and alleviate the inconveniences being faced by the residents of Marsascala. Unfortunately, the confusion that Mr Psaila rightly refers to is the result of political interference and misinterpretations by interested parties.

For this reason, WasteServ is once again, through this letter, trying to clarify the facts for the public and residents. For the proposed modernisation of this plant, a total of 16.7 million euros in European Union cohesion funds have been allocated and these funds will be lost if this upgrading does not take place. Another important point is that the proposal is for an upgrading, not for demolishing and rebuilding.

Unlike the current situation, the upgrading project involves the process being carried out within a closed environment, hence all nuisance will be further reduced.

The enclosed environment proposed means that both the process and the storage will be carried out in a closed environment, thus limiting the emission of unpleasant smells. This investment will also ameliorate the amounts of recovered materials from the general waste stream.

The Environment Impact Assessment in respect of this plant has been drafted and presented to Mepa by WasteServ and all issues of concern that were raised from the public consultation process are being included in the detailed design and tendering process for this facility. In this way, the technology chosen will be the best suited for this proposed upgrade.

I hope that this information clarifies some of the confusion referred to by Mr Psaila in his letter.

Christopher Ciantar

WasteServ