Azzjoni Nazzjonali yesterday condemned the wasting of scarce resources when rubble from excavations is dumped at sea and demands that better use is made of this natural resource without delay.

Speaking at a press conference held in front of the SmartMalta site, Azzjoni Nazzjonali deputy leader Angelo Xuereb said he believes that the company responsible for the Smart City project would fully understand what AN is advocating, for in Dubai, where land is hardly at a premium, they still build artificial islands. This is more than enough reason for building the same here, a tiny overcrowded island that could make good use of every bit of available space it can create.

Although Azzjoni Nazzjonali favours the investment in Information Technology, but is against the waste of the only resource of our country, namely our “gebla tal-franka” and the clean inert construction waste created from excavation. All this is being

dumped into the sea at a depth of 150 metres where there is no hope of ever making any use of it.

Azzjoni Nazzjonali is of the opinion that clean, inert material should be used to create artificial reefs as well as carry out other functions. If deposited over the Hurd Bank, which is only about 10 kilometres away from Ricasoli and lies at a depth of around 40 metres, it would eventually result in an artificial island where wind farms could be located to help generate clean power.