Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1471699
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 JUNE 2022 NEWS KURT SANSONE RURAL Siġġiewi is home to the largest herds of sheep and goats, according to figures tabled in parliament recently. The locality in Malta's west- ern region is home to 100 farms that collectively house 1,225 registered sheep and 467 goats. But the figures also throw up some quirky numbers for the more urban areas. A sin- gle goat is registered in Vallet- ta and another one in Sliema. In Bormla, two goats and one sheep are registered, while a single sheep can be found in Pietà. These are highly urbanised localities with no farms, which suggests that these animals are probably kept as pets. Howev- er, the law still requires such animals to be registered with the Veterinary Services Direc- torate. The figures show that the second largest population of goats after Siġgiewi is found in Xewkija with 428 distributed among 81 farms, followed by Żejtun with 324 goats in 88 farms. After Siġġiewi, the largest population of sheep is found in Rabat with 927 distributed on 110 farms, followed by Żurrieq with 777 sheep on 80 farms. The Gozitan locality with the highest number of sheep is Nadur with 656 distributed on 81 farms. The statistics were tabled by Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo in reply to questions by Opposition spokesperson To- ni Bezzina. By mid-June there were 13,765 sheep and 5,643 goats kept in 1,708 farms across Malta and Gozo. These farms include the premises in Val- letta, Sliema, Pieta and Bormla that house singular animals. A breakdown of figures shows that in Gozo, famed for its ġbejniet, there were 4,362 sheep and 1,476 goats distrib- uted across 496 farms. Top 5 for goats Siggiewi 467 Xewkija 428 Zejtun 24 Qormi 291 Zurrieq 282 Top 5 for sheep Siggiewi 1,225 Rabat 927 Zurrieq 777 Zejtun 762 Nadur 656 Siggiewi: sheep and goat capital of Malta JAMES DEBONO THE owners of a solar farm just 80m off a proposed quarry in Bengħajsa, near Birżebbugia, has expressed concerns a new hard- stone quarry would disrupt un- dermine the farm's foundations and cover panels with dust. Mediterranean Energy Lim- ited said the hardstone quarry proposed by Paul Falzon over a 6,200sq.m plot of agricultur- al land just off Triq il-Fortizza, said "the continuous and un- predictable nature" of vibrations caused by quarrying "will disturb the present stability of the solar farm". The quarry would lie less than 200m away from the shoreline, 600m from a recently approved family park and immediate- ly next to the 29,000sq.m solar farm which produces enough clean energy to power some 760 households annually. MEL, which is owned by the Hili Group, said the quarry vi- brations could destabilise the slopes and retaining blocks of the solar farm, which was itself developed on a disused quarry and in-filled with coal ash by En- emalta. The site of the solar farm had been used as a landfill for the disposal of pulverised fuel ash from the Marsa Power Sta- tion up until 1992. The previous use of the site as a quarry was the reason why the site qualified for development as a solar farm as required by the policy limiting solar farms to disused quarries. The retaining walls became necessary when it was discovered that part of the site was originally rehabilitated inadequately with a very thin layer of inert waste. No earth- work leveling was allowed, so as not to disturb the coal ash be- neath, leaving MEL no option but to erect a retaining wall di- rectly on the coal ash, in order to obtain an acceptable slope for the PV panels to be installed. "It is predictable that the quar- ry vibrations will destabilise the slopes and the retaining blocks of the solar farm itself since their foundations lie directly on the coal ash contained within the lower coralline formation below ground level of the original quar- ry," MEL contends. Moreover to prevent the coal ash from contaminating the wa- ter table it was also capped by a layer of impervious membrane. "Extensive vibrations will disturb the underlying coal ash and ren- der the impervious membrane susceptible to joint discontinui- ties," MEL said, leading to water ingress and eventual percolation through the coal ash. The solar farm owners are also concerned that the quarry will result in a drastic reduction in the power production from the solar farm, due to the deposition of dust of the PV panels. "There is no practical solution to keep thousands of panels free from dust with a quarry adjacent." The Birżebbuġa council is also objecting to the quarry, noting the close vicinity to the family park approved in March 2021, which lies midway between the park and the coastline, separated by a 600m tract of open agricul- tural fields. "The proposal is not compatible with the rural na- ture of the area, and specifically the park at Bengħajsa which the Planning Authority has deemed fit to approve," said architect Carmel Cacopardo, also leader of the Green Party ADPD, who is advising the council on this issue with its objection to the proposed quarry. Nearly 150 residents have already sent their objection to this development. Hardstone, the demand for which is increasing due to the construction boom, is usual- ly used for the preparation of cement, for concrete mixing and for roadbeds. The stone is then processed into fragments by crushing machines and then sorted according to the particle size. Benghajsa quarry could undermine adjacent solar farm The owners of one of Malta's largest solar farms have warned that vibrations could destablise their foundations and cover their panels with dust