Political parties in agreement on strategic importance of water

The Labour Party, the Nationalist Party and Alternattiva Demokratika expressed concern at the scarcity of water on the island and called for sustainable use of the natural resource.

The parties participated in a conference organised by the Church Environment Commission in collaboration with the Malta Water Association, Flimkien ghall-Ambjent Ahjar and the Directorate for Eco-Gozo and regional development.

The conference - which spanned over two days this week and comes to an end on Saturday 17 December in Gozo - discussed water, development and insularity was also address by representatives of the three major political parties.

Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism Mario De Marco said all parties recognise the importance of water and the obvious scarcity of water in the Maltese islands.

De Marco said water storage has always been of utmost importance to inhabitants of these islands and this is testified by the presence of water cisterns constructed by the Knights of St John, the British and the Misqa tanks next to the Imnajdra temples.

De Marco said "Unfortunately the good work done over the centuries has not been sustained during the last few decades."

 "Malta has the lowest amount of fresh water per capita in the EU. 60% of our water comes from desalination plants which consume vast amounts of energy which is fuelled by fossil fuels. This comes to great economic and environmental costs," De Marco said.

De Marco said "Malta needs to look at ways to produce fresh water using less energy and possibly exploit renewable energy."

The Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism said that Malta is visited by around two million tourist annually and this places a greater strain on our scarce resources. De Marco said that the Life programme being run in  collaboration with the Malta Hotel and Restaurants Association (MHRA) and the eco-certification of hotels are positive measures.     

De Marco also expressed his concern in regards to aquifer water and boreholes used to pump fresh water. De Marco added that aquifer water needs to be protected and said treated sewage water needs to be exploited further and should be used by industry, agriculture, tourism and households.

De Marco stressed that investment in water conservation programmes alone is not enough. "We need a cultural change and improve our practices."  

De Marco said "All stakeholders should be conscious of social and ecological responsibilities and be conscious that every drop counts. Water should neither be too cheap nor too expensive. Government, industry, agriculture, the tourist sector and private households should aim at self-sufficiency and reduce water use as much as possible."

PL spokesperson on the environment, sustainable development and climate change, Leo Brincat said "Water is a strategic resource and the three main issues in water use are capture, recovery and storage."

Brincat said new technologies to produce energy and desalinate water need to be looked at as the dependency on fossil fuels is unsustainable.

Brincat said government should avoid fragmentation and duplicate efforts in its efforts to curb water wastage and improve capture and storage. "The Water Services Corporation, the Malta Resources Authority, MEPA and the Climate Change Report should be commended for their efforts, however considering our scarce human resources these entities should overlap each other."

"A sense of ownership is vital when taking difficult and important decisions in regards to water use."

Brincat stressed the importance of a holistic plan in regards to water storage, pumping from aquifers and sewage treatment. Brincat also said that the distribution network is of vital importance to any water strategy and leakages should be kept to a bare minimum.

"The setting up of a holistic plan for this strategic resource and the implementation of the plan will not resolve the problem overnight; however will be a step in the right direction."

Alternattiva Demokratika (AD) chairperson, Michael Briguglio spoke about the urgent need for the implementation of a sustainable water policy in Malta.

Briguglio said "We are in a situation where the majority pay their utility bills, whilst others steal water from boreholes.  There is an urgent need to stop the illegal extraction of water through unauthorised boreholes."

Briguglio said "The usage of groundwater by industry, including that of a certain soft drinks company, which was ironically recently awarded an environmental prize, should be banned immediately and should purchase water at commercial prices."

Briguglio was making reference to General Soft Drinks Co Ltd Coca-Cola which make use of boreholes in Qormi to supply water for their factory in Marsa.

"Such extraction is forcing the Water Services Corporation to rely heavily on reverse osmosis and is, in itself, a contribution to the rates that are charged for water. Reverse osmosis plants consume a lot of energy, and increased dependency on such plants is risky, for example if an oil spill occurs. Malta only has facilities for 48 hours water storage," said the AD chairperson.

 Briguglio said "Malta has 8,000 private boreholes, extracting ground water for various uses, including water for soft drinks, animal husbandry, manufacturing industry, concrete batching plants, swimming pools, agriculture, lawns and private gardens, making it probably the country with the highest borehole density in the world."

"Borehole usage is unsustainable, and if current trends persist, this resource will no longer be available in around 15 years time, due to the infiltration of sea water in the water table. In turn, Malta will be over dependent on reverse osmosis plant," Brigiuglio said.

AD believes that the water issue is ultimately an issue of environmental justice, social justice and economic good-sense. Briguglio said "How could it be that such a scarce resource is being treated as if it had unlimited supply, and how come those who are grabbing it for free are being rewarded for doing so."