Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, accompanied by no portfolio Minister Konrad Mizzi, this afternoon launched the first phase of what will eventually by the complete removal of the oil tanks in Birzebbuga.

Addressing a press conference, Minister Mizzi said that when this plant was built, there were no houses built around it. In time, the story changed completely and the Enemed centre is now surrounded by residences.

He explained that there were proposals in the past to locate the tanks in Hal Saptan. However, there were issues related to the environmental damage of the site. Dr Mizzi said that because the country has lowered the dependence on oil, there is no further need to build the tanks in Hal Saptan. Instead, he said the tanks which were built underground will be transformed to serve as storage tanks for domestic fuels.

In fact, yesterday the Planning Authority gave the green light for the works in Hal Saptan.

Prime Minister Muscat explained that it will take two years to clear the site completely. The organisers of the conference set up a big screen with live drone footage showing the first piece of the rusty tank going down. The Prime Minister had to pause his speech so that he could turn and applaud at what he described as “a historical moment”.

It was further explained that the current administration building will be removed. Enemed offices will now be temporarily moved to the old Air Malta offices.

It was also announced that Wied Dalam, an area of 80,000 square metres which is currently property of Enemed, will be transformed into a natural park. 

Dr Muscat said that this was a historic day for Malta and Birzebbuga. “Finally, we are clearing Birzebbuga of this noise and air pollution,” he said while praising Konrad Mizzi for the perfect project management.

“The south of Malta is no longer Malta’s dumping site. We want this part of Malta to be elevated to the standards of the rest of the country,” Dr Muscat added.

Joseph Muscat has full confidence in Police Commissioner

When asked by journalists to say whether he is confident of Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar, the Prime Minister replied with a straight ‘yes’.  He said that the Leader of the Opposition should stop attacking the institutions and instead provide proof on the serious allegations made against him and his wife.

“If these allegations are somehow proven true, I will step down. But if these investigations prove otherwise and do not support Busuttil’s claims, it should be the PN leader who resigns.”