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maltatoday SUNDAY 18 MARCH 2018 26 Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando yesterday told this newspaper that he has no intention to make any public declaration, still less resign his seat in parliament, until the police investiga- tion requested by the Prime Minister into the "Spin Valley" permit in Mistra is concluded. Pullicino Orlando has been in the line of fire ever since the last week of the election campaign, when former Op- position leader Alfred Sant published documents linking him to an outline development permit granted by Mepa for ODZ development in environmentally sensitive Mistra Bay. There have been numerous calls for his resignation from parliament, especially after yesterday's publication of the MEPA auditor's report, requested by the prime minister before the election, which concluded that "accusations of corrup- tion are inevitable and difficult to refute" when permits are granted in f lagrant breach of Mepa's own policies. But Pullicino Orlando himself argues that his own involvement has yet to be established by the police investigation. "Whilst I am certain that this was not your intention, your enquiry (as indeed those of other journalists) is being put to me rather prematurely at this stage, since whilst the MEPA Auditor's Report has been concluded, the investigations by the Commissioner of Police are still ongo- ing," the MP said. Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando confirmed that he wrote to the Commissioner of Police and to the Auditor of MEPA on 12 March 2008, referring to the investiga- tions being carried out at the request of the Prime Minister, confirming his full disposition to co-operate fully and unre- strictedly in these investigations. Pullicino Orlando was questioned at the Police Headquarters in Floriana on 16 March. "Whilst I am fully aware of the fact that the case is being closely followed by the media and subject to public reac- tion, even amid much speculation and misinterpretation by those who may or may not have any particular agenda in my regard, I would wish therefore not to make any public declaration that can in any way be seen or interpreted as at- tempting to inf luence, digress or hamper these investigations," he said, adding that the publicity given to this case will have inevitably led people to make their judg- ments before hearing his own version of events. "I feel that it would only be proper for me to reply at the opportune moment when I shall be completely free to do so," he concluded. Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, formerly awarded the "Green Politician of the Year" award, was elected from two dis- tricts despite the allegations of serious misconduct which surfaced just days before the March 8 election. The Siggiewi-based dentist has from day one insisted that the application was submitted by a third party without his full knowledge or consent. Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. Pullicino Orlando: 'It ain't over till the police investigation is done' Opinion News – 19 March 2008 The national waste dilemma Għallis, the last remaining engi- neered landfill in Malta, is now within a matter of months, not years, of reaching its capacity; and then there will be nowhere to dump our municipal waste. This does not come as a surprise – Friends of the Earth Malta has been warning that landfills are ultimately a temporary solution to the chronic problem of waste production. As a result of this impending closure of Għallis, the Government intends to implement a waste-to- energy scheme, in which domestic waste will be used to produce energy. This follows a universal trend: the incineration industry has jumped on the "green" bandwagon, marketing incineration and thermal conversion as environmentally friendly, and going as far as labelling it as renewable energy. Utilising waste-to-energy devices is an improvement on dumping waste in engineered landfills espe- cially when considering Malta's size and the current construction spree which is destroying nature and open spaces at an alarming rate. It is also better than dumping our waste on third countries, which comes at a prohibitive cost to taxpayers and reduces our collective sense of responsibility. FoE Malta had been sounding the alarm bells that if waste reduction is not taken seriously Malta will end up in a position to have to take unpalatable decisions about its waste management strategy. We have now come to that stage where Eurostat data from 2015 puts Malta as the 5th largest generator of waste per capita, with more than 600kg of waste generated per person annu- ally, compared to an EU average of 477 kg. In addition, Malta was the country with the lowest recycling/ composting figures, with nearly 90% of waste being landfilled. Although the inevitable is now bound to happen, FoE Malta through its involvement on the Waste Committee was adamant that if a waste-to-energy plant is eventually constructed, it should be of the smallest possible size to cater for waste generated beyond our EU recycling targets. FoE Malta still fears that if this scheme is implemented in Malta, it could potentially encourage excessive waste generation amongst a popula- tion that is already predisposed to it. As the waste-to-energy plant being planned has thankfully been designed with these targets in mind, one needs to understand that serious efforts from all sectors of society are needed to increase our recycling rates drastically and reduce overall waste generation. This plant will not accommodate any laissez-faire attitudes. We are asking government to take strong, properly-enforced measures. 1. The rapid introduction of the promised deposit/return scheme for plastic bottles which is an effective tool to ensure that this resource is recycled and not wasted. 2. Collection of separated organic waste from households, food outlets and supermarkets. 3. Schemes to cut down on waste generation particularly of single-use plastic. These schemes should be imple- mented with awareness-raising on reduction of waste to reinforce moves towards a zero-waste situ- ation. Ultimately, the resources on this planet are limited. Paper, plastics, metals and alloys, cannot continue being produced (or recy- cled) indefinitely. Reducing the use of materials and resources is crucial to ensure a sustainable use of our Planet's limited resources. Friends of the Earth Malta is also doing its part through actions and educational campaigns such as a plastic-free month in October and a zero-waste Camp later on this month. Martin Galea De Giovanni Friends of the Earth Malta Birth control is abortion It is true that a single-celled embryo marks the 'beginning' of a new human life but if halted or frozen, it would be a 'beginning' that never became a human life. So much focus on IVF freezing. Do you know that a morning-after-pill (which is available without a pre- scription) can have abortive effects up to 48 hours after conception? At this stage the embryo is no longer a single-celled 'beginning'. OK, if for many people a 'begin- ning' (that never became a human life) and human life are on same level (and I respect their opinions), I fail to understand why it is illegal to kill a few-minutes-old one- celled embryo during IVF process whereas you can kill a two-day-old embryo with an easily accessible emergency pill or even a coil. If many believe that life begins the moment a sperm meets an egg, then, any birth control method that prevents a fertilized egg from im- planting in the uterus, is abortion. Charles Micallef Via email