Kirkop and Siggiewi quarries to receive construction waste

- decision on engineered landfill site next week

By Kurt Sansone
Trucks laden with construction waste will no longer make the trip to Maghtab. As of yesterday, construction waste started to be dumped in two disused quarries in Kirkop and Siggiewi.
The Kirkop quarry is situated at Tal-Mejda in Valletta Road close to the airport runway, while the Siggiewi quarry is known as Tal-Bellula and is situated close to Ghar Lapsi.
Construction waste forms the bulk of all waste dumped at Maghtab and the re-direction of this waste to disused quarries will ensure the dumpsite on the Bahar ic-Caghaq coast road will not get much bigger before the scheduled closure in May next year.
It was only yesterday that Minister for Resources and Infrastructure Ninu Zammit published the names of the sites identified for construction waste dumping. During the press conference Zammit added that applications for the use of other quarries for construction waste dumping were made and permits will be issued shortly.
Meanwhile, the Minister also announced that the site for the new engineered landfill to replace Maghtab and Qortin will be made public next week. Zammit said the two sites studied by experts were those at Ghallis and Benghajsa.
The five-year contract for the management of construction waste was awarded to Polidano Brothers and German company Staedterinigung West Nolting (SWR Co.).
The tariff on dumping remaining unchanged at Lm1.18 for every tonne and it remains government’s prerogative.
Although being very bulky in nature, construction waste is the least environmentally hazardous of waste streams. Dumping the waste in disused quarries would help in the future rehabilitation of quarries.
Zammit said that in March and April this year 60,000 tonnes of building waste were deposited in the government-owned quarry in Ta’ Kandja. The site, formerly a scrap yard, is scheduled to be transformed into land for agricultural use.
WasteServ Malta Ltd., a government company, is responsible for the management and supervision of the facilities and sites that handle waste.
Minister Zammit said that measures were being taken to prevent waste such as oil sludge, tyres and chemical solvents from making it to the Maghtab dump. Government is working on a number of arrangements such as the shredding of tyres for storage and eventual exportation and the storage of chemicals.