Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1243341
7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 MAY 2020 OPINION OVER the weekend, we were told that all roadworks have been suspended as – according to Infrastructure Malta CEO, Frederick Azzopardi – there were no dumping sites available for the disposal of construction and demolition waste, including dredged material. Contractors were therefore facing a problem regarding where to deposit con- struction waste that, in the case of road works, is mainly excavat- ed rock. The message was that there was a lack of space and no more disused quarries were available. In truth, however, Malta still has a supply of quarries: but not all of them are available for taking in construction waste. In fact, roadworks contractors are usually the owners of their own quarries, but they refuse to ac- cept waste from other contrac- tors, to reserve space for their current and future committ- ments. Meanwhile, those who do not own such facilities were being continually asked higher and higher prices. It was not a case of quarries suddenly disappearing but a case of the price for the dis- posal of excavated material in quarries shooting up more and more – the more excavation waste is generated by road- works. Azzopardi put the onus of the decision on the Environ- ment and Resource Authority (ERA), saying that the suspen- sion would stay in place until it the makes necessary provisions for the disposal of such excava- tion, demolition and dredging material. ERA, which is the regulator in this case, rebutted Azzopar- di's stance saying that there are 31 quarries permitted to ac- cept construction waste, six of which have permits only for re- cycling such waste. ERA rightly added that it expected all con- tractors to seek proper waste management facilities prior to commencement of works that are known to generate many quantities of construction waste. I would say that such action should be taken even before - when contractors bid for a job that generates a lot of mineral waste, they should already know where they are going to dipose of the material generated by the contract and how much they were going to pay for the service. In truth, therefore, this was a price war. Contractors who had bid for work assuming a particular rate for waste dis- posal were facing frequent and sudden capricious increases from quarry owners for this disposal, resulting in much of their projected profits literally going to waste. Instead of chiding its contrac- tors for not doing their home- work properly before accepting contracts that involved huge amounts of excavtion waste, Infrastructure Malta shifted the blame onto ERA. The PN accused Infrastructure Malta of lack of planning, but in actu- al fact the lack of planning was on the part of the contractors with whom Infrastructure Mal- ta appears to have a very cosy relationship. Infrastructure Malta was helping the cause of its con- tractors – rather than that of its own strict interests – when it went public on the issue, blaming the ERA and ordering its contractors to stop all road- works to put pressure on ERA and the government. The two entities are the re- ponsibility of two different ministries – and so it should be. Was this the first Ian Borg-Aaron Farrugia clash? Time will tell. Remember, Aaron Farrugia had just been earning kudos from all over the political spec- trum and environmental NGOs for his decision to ditch the fu- el station policy concocted by the Planning Authority under Ian Borg and replace it by one that is much more sensible and environment friendly. Last Tuesday, Cabinet decid- ed that the government was to intervene in the market to drive down the price for the disposal of waste to €12 per tonne from even up to €18. Legally this de- cision should have been taken by ERA and then, perhaps, en- dorsed by the government; but in Malta many regulators exist just for decoration. But why am I nitpicking? Be- cause I perceive that the status of regulators is not respected by the current administration. This could be due to the fact that the current Maltese Cabi- net is bereft of intellectual heft and, except for Edward Sci- cluna, none had distinguished themselves before entering politics. There is another aspect of this issue that has, moreo- ver, been continually ignored: contractors who own a quarry permitted to accept construc- tion waste have an edge over other contractors who do not have such facilities of their own. These contractors/quarry owners refuse to accept waste generated by other contractors, or ask exhorbitant rates for do- ing so. This is distorting the market and creating unfair advantag- es for some contractors. This is where ERA, as a regulator, should have intervened long ago. It should ensure a level playing field in this sector. ERA should also be push- ing for more recycling of con- struction waste and excavated material. Unless it pushes this by providing guidelines and benefits to people who embark on such projects, the issue of construction waste disposal will remain with us for the long term. Where construction and ex- cavation waste is concerned, ERA has a big tough job ahead of it, if it wants to observe the law that created it. Losing time in petty sqaubbles with anoth- er branch of government is not on. Political dead end On Thursday, many local newspapers reported the resig- nation from Parliament of for- mer minister Chris Cardona in their front page. Cardona, who was elected to Parliament in six consecutive elections, obviously concluded that his political career was at a dead end after losing his min- isterial status, following the election of Robert Abela as PL leader and Prime Minister. For the time being, it seems, he will retain his post of Labour Party deputy deader for party affairs. In the circumstances, that is still going back, rather than forward. Cardona has had a controver- sial record as a minister. While he can claim some successes in attracting investment to Malta, he had two 'colourful' episodes as minister: the allegation that he visited a brothel during an official ministerial visit in Ger- many and the attempt to im- plicate him in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Unfortunately for him, any chances of his ever realistical- ly holding significant political power again have dissipated and those two episodes will al- ways crop up when his political career is mentioned. Yet another politician bites the dust. As Enoch Powell once famously said: every political career ends in tears. Michael Falzon The case of the disappearing quarries micfal45@gmail.com The Wied Incita quarry will now take construction waste