Maghtab – need we say more? Yes, actually. It's been a dumping site, an eye-sore and environmental scar for decades. But those of us who were brought up in the area remember a different place. We're nostalgic for the rocky area that was popular for walks, picnics and hikes in winter, and spectacularly popular for swimming and BBQs in summer.

Realistically, things can never go back to the way they were. But does that mean the government has a license to continue to dump on it, while treating the people who live there with disrespect and subjecting them to greater indignity?

My blood was boiling when, last month, I spoke in Parliament about the rampant waste mismanagement. Sure, waste management is complex. I am the first to acknowledge that the use of Maghtab as a landfill began decades ago. Does that mean we can't speak about the past seven years?

Because, over the past seven years, the situation has not just deteriorated, it has gone totally out of control.

The current and previous Labour administration promised to “Sort it Out”. Sadly this has not been the case. This has not been because the public was resistant to the behavioural changes needed for modern waste management. On the contrary, the public in general has responded well to the waste-separation scheme.

Can more be done? Of course. Compared to other countries, we are miles behind in this sector. But, just over 15 years ago, we also began to progress by many miles compared with where we had been just before EU membership.

Thanks to the huge investment of €27 million (€16.7 million of which came through the EU Cohesion Fund 2004-2006) in the Sant Antnin Waste Treatment plant, Malta was on the path, albeit at a slow pace, to recover lost time.

Joseph Muscat was always against this plant. When he was an MEP he worked hard against Malta obtaining the much needed funds. By some strange luck or fate, on his watch as Prime Minister, back in May 2017, the plant was totally destroyed by fire. Three years down the line, we still have no idea how this fire happened. At least, not officially.

An inquiry was appointed then. To date, we have no idea of the outcome. In Parliament I asked several questions. When will the Sant Antnin inquiry report be published? Was it arson? Is it true that the water reservoir, intended to be used in such circumstances, was empty? Is it true that the fire extinguishing mechanism did not function? I'm still waiting for the answers.

These questions are fundamental to understanding the recent past and the current situation. Had the Sant Antnin Waste Treatment plant been in full function today, would we have the same crisis we have on our hands? Obviously not.

Somehow, however, our Government does not want us to find out what happened then. It wants us to close our eyes and imagine a bright future ahead of us where, possibly by magic, the issue of waste management is solved once and for all.

And what exactly is the plan? Minister Aaron Farrugia is promising us a “state-of-the-art” solution.

First, we were told that the government would take an additional 250 tumoli of land at Maghtab to expand the waste complex and centralise facilities. The residents, farmers, NGOs and local councils of the area (namely, Naxxar and St Paul’s Bay) objected. 

Suddenly, government came up with a new plan. There seems to be a sharp reduction in the land to be taken up in Maghtab in the new plans for a waste-to-energy plant. I used the word “seems” because, to date, no plans or environmental impact assessments have been made public.

So far, we have only the assurances of the Minister. The area will be smaller. We will be reaching our targets and obligations (environment and energy). And Wied Fulija in Zurrieq, Sant’Antnin in Marsascala and Qortin in Gozo, will be returned to the people as green areas for public use.

Nice words, but did he say Qortin landfill in Gozo? How strange! According to the Wasteserv website: “In 2004, the landfill in Qortin, Gozo, was closed following 33 years of operation.”

The same website also states that this project was partly financed by the EU Cohesion Fund, and that a total of 22,881 pieces of material (including small trees, shrubs, trees and reeds) were planted in this area.

Maybe what the Minister actually meant to say is that the Labour government never completed the works to make the area safe for the general public. It would fit the general Labour trend to abandon projects started by PN governments.

Sadly, our waste management strategy has to include sifting through Labour's wasted years and dumping of misleading information. But if that's what it takes to hold this government to task on the promises it made, we will continue to do it.