In the original writ filed in court, Mr Falzon claimed his reputation was severely tarnished after Mr Mizzi published an article in The Times in which he suggested that the chairman tampered with reports on the quality of water and other data in 2003.

But in his reply to the protest, Mr Mizzi said his comments were fair since they were based on facts. He said that in his article he quoted from a report issued by the WSC in which it was revealed that the values on the quality of Malta’s water exceeded those permitted by European Union directives.

Mr Mizzi continued that in his 1 April article he was referring and replying to an article written by Mr Falzon in which he quoted the results of water tests WSC carried out in 2000.

Dr Gavin Gulia signed Mr Mizzi’s reply.