Rural Affairs and Environment Minister George Pullicino should assume political responsibility and apologise to the Maltese after the Mepa audit report on the Sant’Antnin recycling plant was revealed, said MLP spokesmen Joe Brincat and Roderick Galdes.

The minister should be ashamed for paying millions of euros to consultants after health impact assessments were not properly carried out, they said. They denounced Minister Pullicino for opting to build the plant at Marsascala at all costs, adding that the report showed that the permit issuance and the drawing up of an environmental impact assessment were flawed throughout.

The two opposition spokesmen held that the minister should shoulder responsibility for gross ethical and political blunders as he had influenced the authority’s board through meetings of which minutes do not exist.

Did Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi promise to take on Mepa under his wing if re-elected to government because he was aware of the confusion that reigned with the minister’s blessings, they asked.

The MLP spokesmen insisted that no one in the PN could guarantee a reform at Mepa while the party in government disregarded law provisions forbidding political interference in independent technical decisions.