A request was made to the Auditor General  on Tuesday by the Nationalist Party calling for an investigation into the €600 million contract for the waste incinerator project in Maghtab.

In June 2024, the Appeals Court annulled the project tender and ordered the beginning of a new adjudication and evaluation process, as the Court had found that members of the original adjudicating panel within the Contracts Department had a conflict of interest.

An appeal was filed by Hitachi-Zosen Inova AG - Terna SA, one of the bidders which had submitted a proposal for the tender amounting to €780 million. This offer was declined in favour of a competing, cheaper proposal of €600 million made by a consortium of local firm Bonnici Bros. and a French company known as Paprec.

The Maghtab incinerator project has been deemed as a crucial one by Wasteserv in order to reduce the need for more landfilling space used to dispose of non-recyclable waste. The incinerator is expected to process over 190,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste annually and forms a major part of the country’s waste management plan, as it is intended to reduce dependence on landfills.

PN MPs Claudette Buttigieg, Darren Carabott, and Graham Bencini said that the residents of the area are very concerned about what is happening in Maghtab.

The MPs added that it needs to be ascertained that all the studies that had to be done before decisions were made were done properly and not to the detriment of the residents’ health.