Blokrete invests €50 million in dust emission reduction
Karl Stagno-Navarra Almost 40 years after a landmark court victory secured by the late Mabel Strickland on the air and noise pollution from the Blokrete factory on Naxxar Road in Lija, the company has now announced a €50 million investment, which aims to put an end to the inconvenience suffered by generations in Lija and its surrounding localities.
Flanked by a satisfied Lija mayor Ian Castaldi-Paris, and PN MEP Simon Busuttil, Blokrete managing director Joseph Fenech insisted that this “courageous” investment is “more than an apology” to the residents of Lija.
“We acknowledge the inconvenience and are moving in to correct it once and for all. We hope that we can be an example to the rest in our sector,” Joseph Fenech said, when addressing the media and the Lija local council members at the press conference that launched the architectural designs prepared by the firm Cassar, Grech & Ebejer.
Joseph Fenech explained that just last week, MEPA approved the outline development permit to the massive project that will see all materials used to manufacture concrete products put under a roof, eliminating dust flying around the locality.
The ambitious project – which started with the investment of more than €2 million in a machine that reduces the emission of dust into the air when cutting concrete blocks – will continue in phases with the construction of a roofed compound that will house storage and production facilities.
The compound will be housed at the centre of the project and will be surrounded by a groundbreaking architectural-designed block, which would serve as a sound barrier that will also be landscaped. The road area will also be regenerated. The project is expected to be staggered over a period of five to ten years.
While sprinklers have been installed to water down the dust particles on the site, some months ago the company had also taken measures by moving the concrete materials to another part of the plant.
The issue surrounding the noise and air pollution generated by Blokrete Limited never died in Lija, to the extent that the local council had entrusted its mayor Ian Castaldi-Paris to inititate negotiations with the company to address the residents’ concerns.
“We came to the Fenechs with goodwill, which was reciprocated,” Ian Castaldi-Paris stressed, while adding that over three years, the council has made it a priority to seek a solution to the inconvenience generations of Lija residents have endured.
MEP Simon Busuttil explained that he assisted Ian Castaldi-Paris in the matter when he received a petition from the Lija residents about the air and noise pollution caused by the plant.
The petition came before a parliamentary committee on which he sits, while the European Commission has found Malta to be in breach of the noise and air pollution levels, 38 times over.
While an infringement procedure against Malta was in the offing, Blokrete decided to invest in new machinery to correct the situation, and to set an example to other construction companies to do the same.
Simon Busuttil made it clear that traffic is also another serious pollutant in the country which must be addressed to ensure compliance with EU directives on noise and air pollution.
The announcement was labeled a “historic victory” for the Lija council, and probably the end of a saga for the Fenech family, which has been at the helm of Blokrete Limited for almost 60 years.
The White Dust case In 1970, Mabel Strickland secured the first ever environment action when a court upheld her plea on the pollution caused by white dust from the Blokrete factory.
But manufacturing was a priority in a developing economy, and Blokrete claimed that the expense to collect the dust and hose down the factory area was considered far too big.
The court upheld that the factory’s operations were causing grave harm, and found Blokrete responsible for the damage to people, the surrounding agricultural lands and trees – including a grove of 200-year-old olive trees – and houses. Blokrete was ordered to take the necessary measures to curb the effects of its operations.
But despite that seminal case, and even declarations by MEPA that the Blokrete case could “not be considered acceptable either from an environmental point of view or from one of good neighbourliness,” the factory operates under conditions stipulated in licences issued by the police many years ago.
That meant that unless new laws were enacted, little could be done to regulate its activities, pending full compliance with the EU directives.
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