Party should deal with St Paul’s Bay council ‘sludge’ decision internally – MP

Shadow environment minister Leo Brincat has declared the decision by the Labour-led St Paul's Bay local council to dump sludge onto a quay in Qawra, was a bad one but hinted at the possibility that it was a contractor's decision to commit the environmental gaffe.

"Whoever it was, and whether government was involved or not, the decision was wrong," Brincat said.

But the Labour MP also said he was not responsible for the party's local councils and whether responsibility should be borne by Labour mayor Mario Salerno. "It's up to the party to deal with it internally - it is relevant however to know whether government was involved."

A horrific scene met swimmers in the locality of Qawra when a pile of sludge was dumped in onto a quay by a row of boathouses. Environmental authority MEPA was called on the scene to halt the dumping of the sludge, which had been dredged from the Salini Bay because it was obstructing a slipway.

The sand had accumulated and had to be removed because boat owners would otherwise not be able to pull up their vessels in case of a storm.

The collected material was then meant to be "cleaned from impurities, including tyres and plastic" and dumped back in a spot with the same coastline characteristics, chosen by the planning authority.

The local council's acting secretary, George Abdilla, said the tyre that bathers noticed in the pile of sand was an oversight, while it was "difficult to notice the plastic bottles in the pile".

But St Paul's Bay mayor Mario Salerno claimed the operation was being coordinated by the local council, the Resources Ministry and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

On its part MEPA said the council did not obtain the necessary authorisation for the dumping, having requested additional details before the work commences to remove the sludge.

The resources ministry said its only was to pay the contractor who would carry out the dredging work under the supervision of the planning authority.