Robert Abela’s Government does not know how to deal with the waste issue and the proposal to freeze waste is a joke, Nationalist MPs Stanley Zammit and Darren Carabott said in a statement on Monday.

The suggestuion to freeze waste was made by WasteServ CEO Richard Bilocca, which the PN is interpreting to be a PL suggestion in an attempt to tackle the waste crisis.

The PN said that it has had plans to strengthen the sector for a long time, and that the Government’s only proposal so far in this situation has turned into a widespread joke among the people.

The Opposition said that Minister Miriam Dalli’s lack of denial of the belief that freezing waste would benefit Malta and Gozo is a clear sign of the government’s failure to arrive at the root of the problem. The PN said that the Government does not understand that the waste management reform introduced by Prime Minister Abela has failed.

The quantity-based economic policy of this Government has broken various of Malta’s infrastructures, the PN said, “including health, energy, traffic, drainage and waste management.” It said that it insists that the government not to continue hiding the Carrying Capacity Study and immediately publish it instead. The PN said that a serious discussion with all concerned parties should be engaged to organise a holistic plan in order to revitalise relevant infrastructures. “This cannot be done as long as the country remains blindly led without a clear economic policy which aims for quality and not quantity,” it said.

The Opposition referred to itsproposals issued nine months ago “so that the situation of filth and waste does not get worse and starts being resolved”.

Included amongst the proposals are an increase in the frequency of waste collection, a system to facilitate coordination between local councils and apartment block administrators, the designation of hot spots where the identification and enforcement of environmental crimes is increased, and for local councils to be given the responsibility of waste collection along with the necessary resources to conduct this task.

The PN concluded by emphasising that the Government must listen to the people and draft an effective solution to deal with the waste issue.

In reaction, the Labour Party said that the PN’s politics when it comes to waste management was always consistent: growing landfills together with all the negative consequences that this brings to the environment, the surrounding localities, and future generations.

The PL said that while the government will continue to incentivise recycling and address areas where there are challenges, it noted that the PN still holds the same policies focused on increasing waste production, decreasing waste separation, and the take up of more land for landfills.

The PL appealed to the government to continue to implement changes which safeguard future generations, such as those which change waste into a resource such as energy, and also gave thanks to the Maltese and Gozitans who have increased how much they recycle in the past months.

Finally, the party appealed for the efforts on enforcement which are already being done to increase.