Opposition Leader Alfred Sant yesterday tried to enter the Maghtab waste facility in an attempt to hold a news conference on site but was denied access after security officers said he needed a WasteServ permit to enter.

Dr Sant, accompanied by a party delegation, including secretary general Jason Micallef and deputy leaders Michael Falzon and Charles Mangion, said that he wanted to see if Maghtab was still being used as a dump and if there were trees growing.

Several trucks were going in and out of the facility – something which Dr Sant said showed that Maghtab was still operational.

Since access was denied, the news conference was held on the coast road where Dr Sant pointed to the recently planted trees on Maghtab, adding that these looked dead.

Furthermore, he added, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had broken one of his promises even before the elections when he said that trees would grow there.

Referring to the MLP press conference held on Monday where he stated that Maghtab was a possible site for a golf course that, in turn, would help to boost the country’s economy, Dr Sant said that, after the elections, a technical study would be carried out according to the parameters set by the private sector.

The Opposition Leader said that the efforts made by the Nationalist government to make Maghtab greener was a quickly-hatched election gimmick that involved planting hundreds of trees.

“Several of these trees are dead while others are slowly dying,” said Dr Sant.

He said that environmentalists have said that it is difficult for trees to grow because of the gases and the high saline content of the soil.

“These trees were sacrificed instead of planting them elsewhere to be enjoyed by Maltese and Gozitan families,” said Dr Sant.

He went on to say that even though the government is saying that e8.8 million of EU funds were used to treat the gases emitted by Maghtab, this is not true as “smoke is going up into the atmosphere every day”.

However, later on in the afternoon, WasteServ issued a press release stating that Maghtab is a controlled facility: and, as a result, it demands “strict authorisation for anybody entering the site, in order to avoid safety hazards during periods of operation.”

It went on to say that it has organised open days for the public and also coordinated scheduled activities for the media – “always after receiving requests in advance, so as the necessary precautionary measures can be taken, in the interests of safety”.

The Rural Affairs and Environment Ministry published a statement soon after pointing out that Dr Sant had suggested to keep Maghtab open after May 2004 and had even approached the European Commission.

The ministry put down several arguments made by Dr Sant and said that the large majority of 2,000+ trees planted in Maghtab are growing and, if there are any problems, these are under control.

It went on to say that experts had described it as a sensitive and delicate process.

Furthermore, it added, Dr Sant’s quote about environmentalists saying that it is difficult for trees to grow on Maghtab is a big contrast to his proposal to cover it in turf for a golf course.

It also pointed out that the trucks going into Maghtab are on their way to the Ghallis landfill and are carrying clay-based construction waste that is being used as a protection barrier in the engineered landfill.

Furthermore, Dr Sant did not mention that the government invested e8.3 million to install a gas extraction system through pipes. The smoke that can be seen on rainy or damp days is nothing new and the government always said that there are still fires within the waste mountain.

Finally, the ministry said, the Opposition Leader had been invited to visit Maghtab – an invitation that was never accepted.