NEWS | Wednesday, 26 November 2008

PRINT THIS ARTICLE

AD reports raw sewage discharge to Commission

Arnold Cassola, chairperson of Alternattiva Demokratika, yesterday told journalists that despite the government’s plans to turn Gozo into an ‘eco-island’, raw sewage was still being disposed of at sea.
At a press conference in Wied il-Mielah, in Gharb, Cassola said that despite the fact a new municipal wastewater treatment plant had been built with European funds in Gozo, raw sewage was still being discharged into the sea at Wied Il-Mielah in the north-west of the island.
Arnold Cassola was accompanied by European Parliament election candidate Yvonne Ebejer Arqueros and AD secretary-eneral and spokesperson for Gozo, Victor Galea.
“It is understood that the local water utility, the Water Services Corporation (WSC) was supposed to build a pumping station at Wied il-Mielah to transfer the sewage coming out from the villages of Gharb, San Lawrenz, Santa Lucija and Ghammar to the new sewage treatment plant at Ras il-Hobz – to prevent the further discharge of raw sewage into the sea at Wied Il-Mielah. This has not happened.
“We understand that by March 2007, all sewage in Malta and Gozo had to be treated prior to disposal into the sea. This is not happening at Wied iI-Mielah, Gozo and this is therefore in violation of the EU Urban Wastewater Directive,” Cassola said.
For this reason the AD secretary-general Victor Galea has informed the European Commission about this violation of EU law.
“Alternattiva Demokratika is asking the Commission to intervene on this issue, which is not only endangering the biodiversity of the area but also the health of people in Gozo. Various written reports were sent to the MEPA section in charge but no answer was ever given,” Galea said.
Alternattiva Demokratika is also suggesting that the WSC should consider the construction of a small sewage treatment plant at Wied il-Mielah so that instead of pumping sewage all the way to Ras il-Hobz for treatment and disposal, the community in the west of Gozo could have a source of clean and safe, second-class water for irrigation and other second-class water uses, as a substitute for groundwater which is being extracted at an unsustainable rate.
“This beneficial project would contribute to the cutting down of groundwater extraction and would save on the capital costs of laying sewage mains and resurfacing of roads, and also on the energy costs in pumping the sewage across the whole of Gozo, whilst getting nothing in return,” Galea said.

PRINT THIS ARTICLE

Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below.
Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.