The fire that broke out at the Wasteserv complex in Maghtab on Friday morning is now completely under control, Chairman of Wasteserv Board David Borg said in a press conference.

He said that there were no injuries in the incident and that no part of the complex itself had been damaged.

The fire started from an area where around 30,000 tonnes of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) is stored, explained Wasteserv CEO Tonio Montebello. RDF is essentially waste that cannot be recycled, such as dirty cardboard or plastic wrappers. It is not clear yet as to how much of the waste stored caught fire on Friday morning.

This waste used to be processed at and exported from the Wasteserv Complex in Marsascala. When the complex went ablaze in 2017, Wasteserv had to re-apply for the international permit to export the waste. This process took eight months, Montebello said.

Till then, the RDF had to be stored. With this material there is always a risk of self-combustion, Montebello said, and as a result it was stored and buried over with fine construction waste to remove all the air.

Wasteserv received the permit to continue exporting RDF last month, and since then has started doing so by exporting the material that was stored in this cell. Given the self-combustable nature of this material, Montebello said that there was always a risk of such a fire occuring.

However, he said, they were prepared for such a risk and with the help of both the civil protection department and the fire extinguishing system that Wasteserv had in place, and also with the decision to isolate this material, the fire was extinguished and a fire that could have been much more damaging was avered.

Minister for the Environment Jose Herrera also praised Wasteserv's decision to isolate the RDF, saying that it had averted a possible tragedy.

He said that an inquiry, led by Magistrate Marseanne Farrugia, had already been called. This joins an internal inquiry carried out by Wasteserv itself.

Asked whether the inquiry into the fire which broke out at the Sant Antnin complex was concluded, Herrera said that the magistrate's inquiry was still ongoing but that the internal Wasteserv inquiry had been concluded. The latter has not yet been published so not to impinge on or affect the conclusions of the former, Herrera said.

Herrera said that the incinerator announced some months ago would be fuelled by this RDF, which would effectively stop Malta having to export this waste, a process which costs around €140 per ton. The incinerator he said, would deal with 40% of Malta's waste.

Asked if there was a timeline available for this project, Herrera confirmed that the tender for the project will be issued in the coming months.

Asked about the toxicity of the smoke that came out of the fire on Friday morning, Herrera said that this was within the remit of the Environmental Resources Authority (ERA) to establish and that they would issue a statement shortly.

In the meantime, Herrera said that it was business as usual and that by the end of the weekend all would be back to normal.

PN press conference

In a press conference on Friday afternoon, Nationalist Party Leader Adrian Delia said that it was his and the party’s fear that the fire at the Wasteserv Complex in Maghtab was a direct result of a lack of responsibility and poor leadership in how recycling is handled in Malta.

Delia questioned what had caused the fire, where it started, what had caught fire, who was responsible at the time and whether there were any guidelines that had to be followed.

He showed solidarity with the residents living in the surrounding areas.  Reacting to the fact that there was as of yet no published inquiry for the fire that took place in Marsascala around a year ago, Delia said that people have a right to know what happened both then and also in today’s incident.

The opposition leader said that accusations levelled towards the PN for making the issue political were unfounded, and said safeguarding people’s health is definitely a political matter.

Asked about the possibility that there were toxic fumes let out into the atmosphere, and that Minister Herrera had no knowledge as to this possibility as of yet, Delia said that he would not speculate, but also said that the Environment Minister has a duty to be informed as to whether the material burnt produced toxic fuels.

Delia said that the fact that Herrera did not know if the fumes were toxic, showed a lack of responsibility.  He said that this was highly concerning because it showed that those who are leading have no idea how to do this.

Delia also called for the publication of the inquiry into the fire at the Sant’ Antnin plant.  He said that it was becoming the norm for inquiries to be held back, making reference to the Egrant inquiry as an example.  He questioned whether Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, in not publishing the inquiry, was waiting for a politically opportune moment to do so.

Asked whether he thought Herrera and members of Wasteserv’s administration should resign in light of the fire at Maghtab, Delia said that he was not one to make hurried statements and that all the facts must first be established.  However, he said that if necessary, the PN would call for the resignation of these members.

They would do so because, Delia explained, the “culture of resignations” does not seem to exist in Malta.

Government reacts

Reacting, the government said Adrian Delia had clearly shown that he did not know what he was saying when he chose to address the media before being briefed with the facts.

In a hurried press conference, Delia insisted that the PN has a long-term vision but was then unable to come up with a single proposal.

The ministry said Delia was making the mistake of listening to certain individuals around him, who only speak in a partisan and populist way.

It said that the PN always sits on the fence and tries to obstruct the government’s work instead of coming up with proposals.

The ministry pointed out that the PN had refused to take part in the recent waste strategy debate.

It also said that, while the internal inquiry into the 2017 fire was concluded, the magisterial inquiry was still ongoing.

The ministry also insisted that no toxic materials are stored at the site where the fire broke out.