Azzjoni Nazzjonali leader Josie Muscat said yesterday the Prime Minister risked losing an election over the Sant’Antnin waste treatment plant at Marsascala, now that Alternattiva Demokratika are threatening to publish a report which the Malta Environment and Planning Authority has withheld, if the Lawrence Gonzi refuses to publish it himself.
“The people in the vicinity of the plant have been suffering for a long time because of the smells. The entrance of the valley, which was meant to be a protected site has been damaged irreparably,” said Dr Muscat.
“The plant was built irregularly by Mepa, and when the residents of Marsascala expressed their disapproval to the chairman of the waste management company, Nick de Giorgio declared “it is of no use because I simply represent the government,” which made it clear that WasteServ is nothing but a screen for the government.
Ninty per cent of the people expressed their voice against the plant and yet the government stubbornly went ahead with its plans, he added.
Dr Muscat said they knew today that the Sant’Antnin plant is old technology. “Just the day before yesterday we visited the Stein Gasification plant in London and they almost laughed at us when we mentioned that Malta’s plant is making compost!”
The gasification plant works without oxygen, the gas it releases is clean and sulphur is reduced to such an extent that it does not remain toxic. The ash produced in small amounts can be used in the construction of roads.
AN deputy leader Anglu Xuereb said: “Three gasification plants which turn waste into energy, one in the north, one in the south and one in Gozo would be an ideal solution to solve Malta’s waste problems.
“In the case of the gasifier no tall chimneys are needed, and the land-size of a factory is all that is required. It produces electricity and can also produce vitrified slag that can be used to make biofuel. The plant can gasify anything as long as it fits the intake chute, except for glass and metal which need to be separated at source. The low running costs of the gasifier as well as its lack of negative effects and noise pollution exemplifies that there is definitely a better solution than what the government is offering,” added Mr Xuereb.
Mr Xuereb said the composting plant is antiquated and will soon be banned in the rest of Europe because it gives off methane gas. He criticised the government for investing e27 million in a compost-producing plant when it could not guarantee that it could sell the compost produced, and it is likely to function at a loss since in such countries as Germany, for example, compost is given away.
As for the gasification plant AN is suggesting a public-private partnership in which the government either pays the investors for the electricity produced, or a rate for managing the waste and another for the electricity.