PN disappointed with extension of Għallis landfill

The Nationalist Party is disappointed with the Planning Authority’s approval of a higher landfill at Għallis, a temporary solution until an incinerator and other facilities are constructed.

Last Thursday, the Planning Authority’s board unanimously approved plans which give the country space to deposit 850,000 cubic metres of landfilled waste by increasing the height of the Għallis engineered landfill. Wasteserv is using new technology to increase the gradient of the landfill's side thus increasing its capacity.

Opposition Environment spokesperson Janice Chetcuti said on Monday that instead of insisting on more efficient and effective waste management, the government is opting for “a cushion, while a solution has not yet been found.”

Quizzed by members of the board last week, Wasteserv CEO Richard Bilocca also described the final extension of the landfill at Għallis as a “cushion” until the new waste management infrastructure comes in place.

Chetcuti noted that Malta is still far from reaching its desired goals when it comes to waste management, as landfilled waste should “ideally go down from 90% as it is currently, to 10% as requested of us as a country.”

She said more efforts are required to encourage waste recycling, which in recent years has risen from 11% to only 15%.

It was for this reason, she said, the PN had put forward two specific proposals in its manifesto in the last general election.

The party had proposed additional importance to environmental NGOs so their presence affects boards in decision-making phases and adding 50,000sq.m. to ODZ land every year and stronger afforestation efforts.