[WATCH] €1.5 million in EU funds used to remove asbestos pipes from Hal-Far

'Saved EU funds will be reallocated on social projects' - Borg • Video by Ray Attard

€1.5 million in EU funds are being spent to help remove asbestos pipes that have lay discarded at Hal-Far for around 30 years.

EU funds parliamentary secretary Ian Borg told MaltaToday that the money will come out of €11 million saved by Transport Mata through the renegotiation of a contract for the Coast Road regeneration project.

“The government followed the European Commission’s advice to carry out a 25% financial correction from the original contract, and reallocate the money to educational and environmental programmes that the government would otherwise have spent public funds on anyway”

Other than the removal of the asbestos, the money saved will also be reallocated on purchasing new laptops for teachers, and on apparatus at MCAST to “aid in social inclusion”.

The asbestos pipes have lay discarded at Hal Far for decades and have previously been used as shelter by irregular immigrants. Works to remove the 1,500 tonnes of asbestos commenced in August by waste handling company PT Matic.

The pipes will be packaged and shipped off to Portugal to be buried in an underground landfill.

An as-yet-unpublished report by the European Court of Auditors recommended that the government withdraw €11 million in funds for the Coast Road project, because Transport Malta did not respect public procurement rules.

Borg said that in February 2013, Transport Malta granted a €83 million contract to a tenderer for the Coast Road works, despite it being some €30 million more expensive than the original estimates.

Transport Malta re-entered negotiations with all contractors and a final €53 million contract was finalised in April 2014.