Design
other hand, this cutting was done a
bit more carefully, then the problem
would not exist so much because it
could be used elsewhere.
In fact, the MDA always had a proactive
stance on this situation, and we have
already been in contact with Minister
José Herrera and the Planning Au-
thority to see whether, or how, this
situation can be improved. The prob-
lem of dumping has been coming
along for far too many years and no
one has had the foresight to study the
consequences; to the extent that cer-
tain contractors are unable to dispose
of this waste material and the situa-
tion is degenerating. It is obvious that
this is not an easily solvable problem.
The Government has just issued a
statement in which it said that it was
looking into the possibility of issu-
ing requisitions on disused quarries
so that they can be filled. But the
problem is that the Government’s
position puts everyone at the same
level. In other words, there is no dis-
tinction between those who are try-
ing to abide by the regulations and
those who are actually, and blatantly,
abusing them. The process of filling
is not a simple one. There has to be a
lot of attention to the kind of materi-
al that is dumped into these “holes”.
There has to be the correct choice
of materials as well, and that too is
expensive in itself. You cannot just
dump anything you want into a dis-
used quarry anyway, especially be-
cause of the possibility of contam-
inating our water table.
The MDA feels that this subject is
not that easily dispensed with. In fact
we intend to meet Minister Herrera
on the matter soon enough and to
delve deeper into it; we intend to
bring together the contractors of
the quarries and the Hon Minister,
to meet up around a table and dis-
cuss the matter in some depth. Our
scope is to initially come up with
some short term solutions so that
this will pave the way for the Gov-
ernment to look ahead for a long
term one. The long term view is a
must and Government knows that.
Land Reclamation
One way of looking at the matter –
and probably the best way – is to dump
into the sea, obviously within certain
controlled parameters as dictated
by land reclamation. Yet it appears
that some of the environmentalists
Unlike concrete-made products, local stone blends well
with Malta’s natural and native infrastructure.
18
Q 2 , 2017
are afraid of this option and their
lobby has meant that Government
has not decided on a way forward.
Progress seems to worry some. In our
opinion there is a need for all the
stakeholders to come together and
to discuss deeply the consequences
of what is happening. Where are the
places where land reclamation can
be used? What are the methods that
can be implemented? How can it be
accomplished?
At the moment there is definitely a lot
of progress happening in these Islands
but so many fear the word itself. To
them, progress is tantamount to
destroying, rather than seeing it in
the different light of caring for what is
important while at the same creating
the needed new.
in the standard
way in which
rock cutting
takes place...
the rock ends
up broken down
into small piec-
es such that
there is little
potential use for
it elsewhere
DESIGN&BUILD