The Malta Independent on Sunday reported yesterday that practically half of the quarries that are refusing to accept construction waste are doing so in breach of the permits they were issued by the Environment and Resources Authority.

Around six months ago, the construction industry was plunged into chaos when the country suddenly realised that there was nowhere to deposit building waste, which includes bricks, broken concrete, tiles and excavation rubble.

Furthermore, the few quarries that were receiving inert material had suddenly doubled their prices.

After several meetings with stakeholders, the government had issued permits to another ten quarries to receive construction waste, and had reached an agreement to keep the prices stable at €8 per tonne.

It was reported at the time that this price would remain fixed for 18 months. To sweeten the pill, the government had introduced tax credits for quarry operators.

But just six months down the line, the country finds itself in the same situation, with only two quarries receiving waste (one of them only at specific times) and prices have again doubled to €15 per tonne.

The quarry operators got their way, despite all the talk of enforcement and the warnings of a government takeover.

Now, this newsroom has found that the quarries are not actually allowed to refuse construction waste, at least unless they are still extracting material.

A clause found in each and every environmental permit issued by the ERA says that no quarry operator shall refuse trucks coming in with inert material. The only exception made is in the case of quarries that are still active.

It turns out, however, that at least 15 quarries are no longer extracting stone but are still refusing to accept construction waste. Some quarries are being used exclusively for projects being carried out by the owners, which is also against the rules.

As a result of this lack of space for the growing piles of debris caused by incessant excavation and construction, prices have shot up, and illegal dumping in the countryside has become rampant.

Furthermore, the country is once again debating land reclamation and even dumping construction waste at sea in certain areas – two proposals that have got environmentalists very worried.

The Environment Minister has again warned quarry owners that the government could step in and take control of these sites if they do not find a solution.

Sources who spoke to this newsroom said they could not understand why the government is talking about requisition when it could more easily enforce the conditions of the permits granted.

In comments to this newspaper on Saturday, the ministry said it was indeed looking into the issue and the conditions of the permits.

“These referred quarries are being examined and considered as part of a wider exercise being conducted by ERA following the Minister’s direction in order to ensure compliance and provision of appropriate space for the deposit of such material,” it said.

While Minister Herrera was right in saying that this is a problem created by the construction industry and should therefore be solved by the same industry, it is the authorities’ job to enforce the rules.

One hopes that the necessary enforcement is carried out with no more time wasted, thus ensuring stability in the volatile sector and also showing the individuals causing this chaos that the rules are there to be followed.

One would also hope that the enforcement would this time have a lifespan longer than six months.