The director general of the GRTU – Chamber of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises yesterday called on the Prime Minister to withdraw plans for a proposed fish farm in Marsascala.

Vince Farrugia said Dr Lawrence Gonzi should withdraw the project because it would harm the environment in Marsascala and be of detriment to the residents and entrepreneurs who have invested in businesses there.

“Socially and economically, the fish farm does not make sense,” he said. “The proposed project is illogical and it is also not true that the existing fish farms will be six kilometres from the shore. Unfortunately, in Malta we do not know the true definition of consultation. How can you consult on something which has already been decided? These authorities are biased against those opposing projects,” he said.

Mr Farrugia said Marsascala “got it from both ends”, first with the Sant’Antnin Waste Recycling Plant and now with the fish farm. He said the government no longer considered Marsascala as a tourist area.

GRTU board member and president of the Association of Marsascala Businesses Reuben Buttigieg said the proposed fish farm would have a negative impact on business in the village.

He said a study the GRTU commissioned revealed several flaws in the Environmental Impact Assessment that was carried out before the permit was granted.

He said the EIA is incomplete and flawed for the reasons specified in the objections filed with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and brought to light in the public consultation meeting. He said these comments were not taken into consideration when the application was being assessed.

Mr Buttigieg said the ministry, Mepa and the director of Fisheries decided that it was not opportune to take into consideration the effects on approximately 110 businesses and some 500 employees.

“It seems, from the various statements by the authorities and the ministry, that the tourism industry is no longer important for this country or that such statements are made by people who are not acquainted with how the tourism and entertainment industry works,” he said.

He said the GRTU will be presenting its case at the appeals board meeting later on this week.

Mr Buttigieg said it is estimated that the fish farm being proposed will cater for around 65 per cent of the quota of the Mediterranean, and residents, businesses and visitors will have to endure all the waste produced by these fish as well as a lot of left over food and chemicals used in fish

farming.

When questioned by The Malta Independent, Mr Farrugia said the GRTU will not be taking action against Joe Tabone, a Mepa board member and also a board member of the GRTU, even though he voted in favour of the proposed project while the GRTU was opposing it.

Mr Farrugia said that Mr Tabone is not representing the GRTU on the Mepa board but at the same time expressed his satisfaction that there is someone defending businesses on the Mepa board.

When pressed for an answer how he could say that Mr Tabone was representing businesses on the Mepa board when he voted in favour of two projects in Marsascala that businesses there were opposing, Mr Farrugia replied that Mr Tabone said he did not know that businesses were opposing the project.

Mr Farrugia said the GRTU council could not impose on Mr Tabone how he should vote.

Later yesterday, the government said the fish farms, which at present are just one kilometre off the Marsascala coast, will be located six kilometres out.

The Environment and Rural Affairs Ministry questioned the GRTU’s position on fish farming in Malta, an important industry.

Should the government stop fish farming altogether, it asked.

The ministry said the relocation of the existing fish farms meant that the impact on residents and businesses will be reduced. It said that one of the operators of the present fish farms instituted legal proceedings to oppose the relocation.

This confirms how the proposed project will be of benefit to residents, it concluded.