Updated |'Marsa incinerator to be closed down during the election period' Leo Brincat

It appears that the Marsa incinerator was taken offline towards the end of last year without any official word as to the reasons why, Labour MP Leo Brincat said in a statement.

“I would like to invite the government to comment on the current state of affairs at the Marsa incinerator. The incinerator is in a constant state of disrepair, and the plant is set to be covertly closed down whilst everyone is focused on the election,” Brincat said.

“The incinerator will be closed in order to carry out the required maintenance, which is expected to last for a month,” Brincat continued.

It appears that the incinerator was taken offline towards the end of last year, and only brought back into operation recently.

“The incinerator only came back online on 8 January. Since then it has been working nonstop in order to clear the backlog of waste material. The government is dragging its feet on carrying out an independent audit on the operator of the incinerator as well as Wasteserv, under the pretence that the incinerator is expected to gain ISO certification," Brincat said.

“Even if such certification is granted, it will not necessarily mean that the required procedures are being carried out. The Labour Party implores the undertaking of an independent audit for the sake of transparency and accountability,” Brincat said.

Responding to these allegations, George Pullicino said, "the operation of the incinerator is open to public scrutiny, so much so that the readings are available online on the Wastserv website. The maintenance process is carried out on an ongoing basis. This is necessary in order to ensure that the incinerator functions within the established criteria and without causing pollution."

"The last maintenance cycle was carried out towards the end of last year. The information that the Hon. Brincat has with regards to the month long closure is wrong," Pullicino stated.

"It is a shambles that Hon.Brincat, who is no less than the shadow minister on this subject does not know that Wastserv has obtained ISO certification from the MCCAA. Once again the Hon. Brincat has got his facts wrong, even though he is supposed to be well versed with the workings of the Ministry," Pullicino said.