Magħtab ‘operating as usual’

● Wash your fruit and vegetables, consumers warned

The Wasteserv facility at Magħtab was yesterday “operating as usual” after the fire that engulfed part of it on Friday was completely put out, Wasteserv said in a statement.

The company thanked its employees who together with the Civil Protection Department worked to control the fire which started on Friday morning.

Meanwhile the Superintendence of Public Health urged consumers to wash fruit and vegetables they buy before processing or cooking. “This information is being highlighted in view of the possible deposits of burnt material on crops in the affected areas following the fire at the Wasteserv facility in Maghtab,” it said.

Samples are being taken for the necessary analysis, the health authority said.

For any queries, one may call the Environmental Health Directorate on 21337333.

In another development, Partit Demokratiku called for an independent public inquiry under the Inquiries Act to look into the reasons behind why, in a space of 15 months, two fires broke out at Sant’ Antnin Recycling Plant and Magħtab.

PD said it must be established what precautions were taken, whether the response was proportionate, and what remedial action needs to be taken to avoid a repeat of such a scenario.

The call by Minister of Environment Josè Herrera to launch an inquiry by the Attorney General on the Magħtab fires falls short of the standards required, the party said.

The statement of the Environmental and Resource Authority (ERA) which confirms that toxic and carcinogenic dioxins and furans were released in the air and spread over a large populated area was also worrying, PD said.

It said there were huge deficiencies and lack of strategic planning facing our country in the field of waste management. “This irresponsible mismanagement unnecessarily puts our CPD personnel, on whom we depend to save our lives, in unnecessary danger. However, it is unlikely that anyone will take responsibility and resign.”