This weekend, a local company will be carrying out a clean up of the seabed in various localities around Malta and Gozo. The company is recognising its corporate environmental responsibility and is inviting all diving clubs in the country to participate in this 2009 Seabed Clean-up Campaign which aims to remove as much litter from various diving localities as possible.

Among the entities supporting the event are the Parliamentary Secretary for Public Dialogue and Information, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, the Malta Institute for Waste Management and, of course, the diving community. The locations earmarked for the clean up are Wied Iz-Zurrieq, Sirens in St Paul’s Bay, Zonqor, Qawra, and Dragonara Reef in Malta, and Dwejra and Hondoq ir-Rummien in Gozo.

The support of these entities is very important. However, what is pivotal is the popular support of all the population. Maybe not all of us can put on a diving suit and join other qualified divers to help clean up the seabed. But we can all do our part by refraining from throwing rubbish and unwanted material into the sea. This would significantly reduce the workload of those dedicated divers who each year take it upon themselves to clean up our seabed. We dream of a day when there will not be any need to urge our people and those who visit us to keep our sea clean. But, until then, we are duty-bound to keep driving our message home.

The importance of clean seas can never be stressed too much, particularly in a country like Malta. Like other small islands we depend on the sea in various aspects. The sea that surrounds us is an important asset for tourism. Swimming, diving and other water sports are not just important means of relaxation and leisure for locals but also very important niches in the tourism market.

The state of the sea also affects the fishing industry. Contaminated and polluted seas harm this sector of the Maltese economy and this creates a negative ripple effect, not just on our quality of life but also on tourism.

We need to encourage and actively assist effective efforts to prevent all forms of marine pollution. We have to generate a permanent reduction in garbage found in the sea and on beaches around Malta and Gozo. At the end of the day, most of the pollution we are trying to avoid is hardly ever accidental. What creates the biggest mass of waste is that paper basket thrown out at sea or that empty bottle of lemonade carried out from some beach.

The Environment Protection Act of 2001 is clear in defining pollution. It’s the direct or indirect introduction by man into the environment of substances, organisms, genetic material or energy that cause or are likely to cause hazard to human health, harm to living resources or to ecosystems, or damage to amenities, or interfere with other legitimate uses of the environment.

As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure and we can prevent sea pollution. Our actions can ensure clean seas and a clean seabed, consequently ensuring a better quality of life and a healthier tourism market.

One of Malta’s main challenges is the sewage problem and the treatment of sewage water. With the assistance of the European Union and the Italian financial protocol, the Government has taken the bull by its horns and is tackling the problem through the construction of three sewage treatment plants.

A treatment plant at ic-Cumnija near Anchor Bay was inaugurated in March. The plant is an e11 million project financed under the Italian financial protocol. The facility treats 6,700 cubic metres of sewage daily and is the second of three plants which will ensure that all sewage is treated before being dumped into the sea.

The first plant of the sort was inaugurated in Gozo last year. The Gozo treatment plant was one of the first projects that benefited from over 50 per cent co-financing from the European Union prior to Malta’s accession in 2003 with expenditure for the project reaching the e7.2 million mark.

Works are currently underway on the third sewage treatment plant at Ta’ Barkat in Xghajra. This particular plant will have the capacity to treat 60,000 cubic metres per day and will be equipped with anaerobic sludge digestion with energy recovery. It will address marine pollution, particularly in Kalkara, Xghajra, Marsascala and Marsaxlokk.

These projects are important not only in view of Malta’s international commitments, but especially for reasons of health, environmental protection and promotion of the tourism product, particularly diving holidays. The projects show how the government is facing up to the challenge by investing energy, time and money.

It is now up to us to do our part. Government and local councils have lately invested a lot in promoting cleaner localities. We have successfully launched a number of schemes and initiatives in this regard. Right now we are in the middle of the Kampanja Lokalitajiet Indaf and in a few weeks time we will announce the cleanest locality in Malta.

Results are very positive and encouraging. But now we have to extend the awareness campaigns and initiatives to our shores and our sea. We must understand that the shores surrounding us are part of our localities. They are part of the country we inherited from our fathers. They are as important as the street we live in or the town centre we pass through every day. The sea is ours. Let’s keep it clean.

Chris Said is parliamentary secretary in the OPM