The Birzebbuga local council, the Birzebbuga Environment Action Group, Labour MP Karmenu Vella, Alternattiva Demokratika’s Carmel Cacopardo and Labour MEP Prof. Edward Scicluna yesterday called on the Malta Freeport to, once and for all, address the noise pollution plaguing areas of the locality after years of talks that have led to only partial results.
Following the findings of a noise pollution survey that was made public yesterday, which showed noise levels from the terminal were having a major impact on residents in several areas of Birzebbuga, an ultimatum was given to the Freeport operators: compensate the affected residents to help them install double glazing and air conditioners to keep the noise out, or to cease operations at night time, when the disturbance was found to be at its highest.
Speaking yesterday with the racket of Freeport sirens and crashing containers serving as an appropriate backdrop, Birzebbuga mayor Joseph Farrugia said, “The residents of Birzebbuga have the right to a night’s sleep.”
He called on the Freeport to compensate the affected residents through the installation of double-glazing so as to keep the noise out of their homes and with air conditioning since they were being forced to sleep, even in summer, with their windows closed because of the Freeport’s noise pollution.
Short of that, he said the only option open to the Freeport operators was to cease operations at night, as had been the case in other countries where residents living close to such installations were afflicted by noise pollution.
The study selected four residential streets of Birzebbuga to monitor noise pollution, together comprising a snapshot of the whole of Birzebbuga, and found excessive noise levels, especially at night. Moreover, the noise pollution study assesses the state of affairs at present and matters are expected to worsen considerably with the advent of the Freeport’s extension, which had been approved somewhat contentiously by Mepa two years ago.
The study’s results and the way forward to address the noise-ridden plight of Birzebbuga residents are expected to be brought up at next month’s meeting of the Environmental Monitoring Committee for the Malta Freeport Terminals – composed of the highest officials from Mepa, the Malta Freeport, the Birzebbuga local council and the Birzebbuga Environmental Action Group.
AD spokesman for Sustainable Development and Home Affairs Carmel Cacopardo, who has been assisting the Birzebbuga local council on the thorny matter for years now, yesterday remarked how the noise pollution survey had at long last recognised the complaints that had been made by Birzebbuga residents for years.
He added that while some mitigating action has been taken by the Freeport over the last two years, such as the replacement of certain machinery and a more conscientious attitude on the part of their operators, far from enough has been done and now matters were coming to a head.
In 2009, the Malta Freeport Terminals Ltd had a requested extension declined by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority mainly due to the fact that the Environmental Impact Assessment had not carried out a scientifically accepted Social Impact Assessment, including an essential noise survey.
About a year later, Mepa approved the Freeport extension on condition that the Malta Freeport accepted to participate in an Environmental Monitoring Committee, and that it addressed the issues at stake.
Prof. Scicluna, a Labour MEP and candidate in the forthcoming general election is a consultant for BEAG and attends meetings of the Environmental Monitoring Committee on a regular basis.
Prof. Scicluna explained yesterday how, in 2012, the Committee agreed to carry out a noise survey in Birzebbuga to examine the impact of noise emanating from the Freeport Terminals on Birzebbuga residents. The noise report was carried out by ADI associates and was presented to the Committee in November.
Prof. Scicluna noted that in a reply to a European parliamentary question he had lodged in 2012, “the European Commission had stated that Birzebbuga as a locality does not fall within the remit of the European Noise Directive in view that the government chose not to include it in its urban agglomeration noise map”.
The noise survey carried out shows that a number of areas in Birzebbuga at certain specific times, particularly during the night, suffer from noise levels that “significantly exceed accepted levels and benchmarks existing in the UK,” he observed.
Labour MP Karmenu Vella remarked that Birzebbuga had to deal with multiple inconveniences caused by aircraft landing at Malta International Airport, the Delimara power station, and the Freeport.
While acknowledging the economic importance of such activities, he said that the rights of citizens to have a decent quality of life must also be considered and that some kind of balance needed to be struck. Saying that the complaints of Birzebbuga residents over the Freeport’s noise levels have now been verified, and that he expected action from the part of Mepa at the next meeting of the Committee, he suggested that the Freeport could suspend certain types of operations at night as one possible type of such a balance.