The Board of Inquiry report on the incineration of mercaptan by Enemalta indicates that MEPA and Enemalta have colluded to circumvent the law on waste management.

Carmel Cacopardo AD Spokesman for Sustainable Development and Home Affairs said that AD-The Green Partyis disappointed at the manner in which the illegal disposal of mercaptan was handled by Enemalta and the other responsible public entities.

First of all, it is to be pointed out that according to Maltese Waste Management Legislation, it is illegal for anybody to dispose of waste in a facility, which has not been permitted by MEPA to do so and even more so through the method chosen by Enemalta, open field incineration! AD is very disappointed about the fact that 8 years into Malta’s EU membership a public corporation had to resort to a waste treatment method which would be illegal even in an undeveloped country, let alone an EU Member State.

To add insult to injury, the Board of Inquiry Report, which was tabled in parliament, leaves the public, none the wiser, it only tries to justify Enemalta’s unjustifiable actions. Enemalta Corporation has to realise that it is not above the law and that the public is expecting it to comply with all Environmental legislation. We also urge the competent authorities to fine Enemalta, in the same way that the corporation was fined for exceeding its 20,000 operational hours at the steam plant in Marsa.

The report tabled in parliament also mentioned that informal discussions which were held between MEPA and Enemalta. Enemalta should clarify with whom these discussions were held. This is indeed a very serious accusation and if this is true indicates that the public body responsible for environmental protection has colluded with a public company to circumvent the law. If these allegations are proven true, we ask for the resignation of those responsible.