Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/550022
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 AUGUST 2015 10 News JAMES DEBONO WHAT started as a cemetery for the burial of pets has evolved into a privately-run incineration plant, and rows of walls holding the ashes derived from cremat- ed cat and dog carcasses. But although approved by the Malta Environment and Plan- ning Authority on Thursday, the pet cemetery, euphemisti- cally referred to as a "resting place for cats and dogs", still needs an environmental permit to operate, which can only be issued after the tender for the plant's operation is awarded. The approved cemetery in- cludes a central one-storey building serving as an incinera- tor and a place where carcasses are kept frozen until cremated. The ashes will be kept in "rows of walls" which will be 30cm wide and 1.8m-high chambers where the ashes will be kept. Incineration plants have to conform to environmental reg- ulations with regard to disposal of hazardous waste. Moreover a tender will be awarded to a private company to operate the incineration plant. No animals will be buried in the proposed cemetery – the carcasses will be cremated. The Environment Protection Directorate had exempted the development from an environ- mental impact assessment but it requested details of the waste streams which will be generated in the operational phase. The Planning Directorate re- plied that these were operation- al issues and the information could only be submitted after the tender is awarded. The burial of pets is not a pos- sibility, according to EU law, and the cemetery proposed at Ta' Qali will consist of rows of memorial walls in which urns holding the ashes of cremated pets will be kept. In the United Kingdom the cost of cremating a pet ranges from £30 (€37) for a very small pet like a hamster, to £150 (€190) for a large one, such as a rottweiler. Each pet carcass will be indi- vidually cremated in a crema- tion chamber to ensure that each pet's ashes will be collected and removed separately. The MEPA case officer report justifies the need for a cemetery as a way to address pet bereave- ment: "With the proposed rest- ing place, this after life social requirement for animal lovers will be addressed." The report also claims that the development is acceptable as it is related to animal welfare on a larger scale. The new cemetery will accom- modate the ashes of 17,000 ani- mals. At present 4,000 carcasses are sent annually to WasteServ to be disposed of, and an un- known number are buried by owners on their own properties. The 1,800 square metre cem- etery is being proposed in the Ta' Qali National Park in an area outside the ring road op- posite the large parking area where a flea market operates on Sundays. The area already designated for a cemetery will be in the vicinity of a proposed guide dogs train- ing area. The cemetery will have a central building which will include the cremation chamber and a freezer. To avoid firing up the incin- erator for each individual cre- mation, carcasses will be stored in a freezer and burned in se- quence. The cemetery will con- sist of rows of walls containing urns holding the ashes. According to the Project De- velopment Statement, one of the advantages of the new in- cineration facility is that it will serve as an alternative to the uncontrolled burial of animals in unknown locations. The PDS acknowledges that animal carcasses can already be cremated in another incinera- tor at Marsa, where pets left at a vet's clinic are already dis- posed of. But the PDS claims that pet owners would object to having their pets treated as waste. The animal cemetery was proposed in the Labour par- ty's electoral manifesto. The previous government had excluded such a devel- opment, because this was deemed to be in breach of EU regulations. "What you can do is cremate the animal in Marsa and bury its ashes. But you definitely cannot have a public animal cemetery," ac- cording to former minister George Pullicino replying to a parliamentary question in 2012. EU regulations consider the carcasses of pets as an animal by-product which should be incinerated due to health and safety considerations. EU law allows member states to dero- gate from the rules to allow the burial of pets and horses but this must be done at a safe distance to avoid health risks. According to the PDS this option was not practical in Malta. Pet cemetery still needs an environmental permit MCST/Q11/2015 - Call for Quotations for the provision of venue for hosting an International Scientific Conference 'Satellite Solutions for Smar ter Islands' The Malta Council for Science and Technology is issuing a call for quotations to commission a reputable rm for the provision of conference facilities and for hosting of the international conference 'Satellite Solutions for Smarter Islands' on 12 November 2015. Quotations should be made on the prescribed forms which together with the relative conditions and other documents can be downloaded from the Malta Council for Science and Technology's website (www.mcst.gov.mt/ news). Sealed quotations are to be deposited in the tender box located at the Malta Council for Science and Technology, Villa Bighi, Kalkara. Submission deadline is 7th August 2015 at 10.00am (CEST). Late submissions will not be considered. The Malta Council For Science And Technology, Villa Bighi, Kalkara KKR 1320, Malta www.mcst.gov.mt