Malta Labour Party MEP Joseph Muscat brought up the case of the planned development of the Sant’ Antnin waste recycling plant in the European Parliament and told Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas that the Maltese authorities had accelerated the process following the commissioner’s meeting in Brussels with Marsascala residents.

Speaking during a plenary session at the Strasbourg parliament, Mr Muscat said the EU should not only introduce stricter regulations to protect the environment but also make sure that they were implemented. He also described how the Maltese authorities were proceeding with the Sant’ Antnin case.

“The suspicious way in which matters were carried out is not only casting shadows on the project, but also on the whole concept of recycling,” said Mr Muscat. He added there were serious doubts about the transparency of the process. A case in point, he said, was that the alternative sites produced by the authorities were smaller than the Marsascala one.

“Those planning regulations which have been enforced zealously with the weak have been thwarted and ignored. Even the Ombudsman intervened in the case,” said Mr Muscat. He said it was the commission’s duty to probe the case.

“A few hours following your meeting with Marsascala representatives,” he told the commissioner, “the authorities rushed in approving the project before the commission could issue any comments on it. There is a need for a serious probe into the matter.”