The publication of the State of the Environment Report demonstrates that the country’s environment is under threat, due to increasing pollution levels, the increase in waste generation and the badly administered eco-tax, Labour spokesmen on the environment, Joe Brincat and Roderick Galdes, said yesterday.

Excess traffic in urban environments had been identified as one of the major reasons for the increase in greenhouse gases by 44 per cent from 1990 to 2003, they said.

This means that the government has done next to nothing to introduce alternative energy sources, they added.

The Labour spokesmen said that the 45 per cent increase in domestic waste between 1996 and 2004 show that the government should have been more pro-active in this regard.

Dr Brincat and Mr Galdes said they hoped that the introduction of eco-tax would raise revenues for new projects and not serve as another revenue raising measure.

They said that they were concerned about the state of the water aquifers. Although the report states that progress has been made on the quality of bathing water, recent statistics should be analysed further, they said.