After the announcement that the gas storage tanker which will be berthed in Marsaxlokk Bay, very close to the residential communities of Marsaxlokk and Birżebbuġa, is leaving the docks in Singapore, Alternattiva Demokratika - The Green Party noted that the necessary studies for its operation have not been published yet.
This was stated by Carmel Cacopardo, Alternattiva Demokratika's Deputy Chairperson. Carmel Cacopardo added that these studies are a requirement of the EU's Seveso Directives, which are aimed at protecting residents from industrial and environmental disasters.
"We are still awaiting the publication of these studies as well as the reports on maritime safety in Marsaxlokk Bay. In particular we are awaiting the studies carried out on the impacts which the stationary gas tanker will have on the current commercial activity (the Freeport) at the port, as well as on the fishing community. To this one must add the impacts which the gas supplies to the tanker, around eight times per year, will have on the operation of the Port of Marsaxlokk."
"It would have been much better," concluded Carmel Cacopardo, "if instead of engaging itself in theatrics in Singapore, Government explained how it intends to address these immensely important issues".