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Five years after the current Minister of Health, Dr Deguara, publicly committed to replacing the incinerator at St Luke’s Hospital because it is damaging public health, we are still at a point where ‘there is no fixed time frame for the incinerator replacement.’
The same ministry has hammered out strict anti-smoking regulations in such a short time as to prevent any real opposition from ever mounting, bypassing every obstacle with its commanding reminder that its responsibility is to protect public health. The irony is that the Ministry of Health is actually responsible for a major source of hazardous pollution, blowing toxic smoke into the face of every resident in the vicinity of St Luke’s and beyond. If you don’t like the smoke you can move, but the ministry has no established time frame to quit smoking.
The minister is concerned, of course, but “this concern does not give the minister the luxury to bypass the tendering procedure to speed up matters,” our minister was quoted as saying to MaltaToday newspaper.
The news is that nobody is expecting him to bypass the tendering process. What is expected is that at the end of five years, some result is achieved. This is not asking too much when you realise this is a process that should usually take anything between six months to one year at the most, from plan to completion. Other countries have done it a long time ago. There is absolutely no justification for further procrastination when we know that what we face at St Luke’s Hospital is a problem that is particularly urgent.
What we have there is one vintage furnace the likes of which I have never come across elsewhere in spite of working with an international organisation that was campaigning against incineration plants on a global level. Incinerators, even the most modern ones, are never a good option to deal with waste for a number of environmental, health and financial reasons. Yet, what we have there is a low-grade oven, holding together by a thread, burning all kinds of hazardous and infectious waste mixed together, and emitting the resulting cocktail of toxic substances unobstructed into the air. Whatever remains as toxic ash inside the oven is then collected together by means of a metal spade by one of the workers there, who incidentally wears no protective gear, and placed into garbage bags. Where those bags really end up is anybody’s guess. I have witnessed plants shut down and ministries resign in other countries for far less than this. In Malta, we sit and wait and complain.
Change is brought about by consistent and strategic public action. Consider the determined effort made by the Mayor of Siggiewi when Mr Polidano tried to build his cement plant in the area. The mayor brought together the residents, environmental organisations, politicians from all sides, doctors, engineers and other specialists and succeeded in stopping the construction of another hazardous plant. Those occasions are few and wide apart.
Without public demands and action, we are not exploiting the benefits offered to us in a democratic country. There is responsibility there. There is also responsibility at government level. Where damage to public health is being inflicted, those responsible should be held accountable.
Caroline Muscat
Xemxija
Editorial note: Caroline Muscat was the Communications Director for the Mediterranean region and local campaigner for Greenpeace Mediterranean until her resignation in May of 2003. She was responsible for planning and co-ordinating the peaceful protest against the St. Luke’s Hospital incinerator for Greenpeace and was one of the activists on the smokestack during the protest.
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