At the Sant'Antnin Waste Treatment plant in Marsascala there is an apparatus called RTO which however has been out of action for a long time and whose disfunction was not reported.

It would seem there are no plans by WasteServ to repair this apparatus which stops dioxin and other pollutants from being spread in the atmosphere.

This admission caused consternation among the Mepa board members this morning as they discussed the extension of an IPPC permit for the plant.

We had the same problems at Maghtab, board member Prof Victor Axiaq said after waste used to be dumped there for 30 years.

WasteServ's Chief Operating Officer Andrew Brincat said the new administration at WasteServ does not plan to repair the RTO for this would cost a lot, and be a long process, entailing the dismantling and cleaning of the apparatus. There would also be a problem with procurement, he said.

Instead they are searching for the Best Available Technology.

The board members were quite astonished to hear this and said that one must not play around with people's health.

It was agreed that the IPPC condition to use RTO will remain on the requirements and also that the permit is valid for only two years instead of the usual four, to see what is happening in this area.

Earlier, the board had approved the surrender by Multigas of its IPPC permit for the operation of the acetylene facility at the Marsa Industrial Area on termination of its operation.