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James Debono
Wasteserv Head of Strategy and Development, engineer Chris Ciantar has been appointed Director for Environmental Policy and Initiatives in George Pullicino’s Ministry for the Environment and Rural Affairs, a post that has been vacant for quite a while.
Chris Ciantar confirmed his new appointment adding that he has not yet relinquished his position at Wasteserv and is presently giving “a hand over.”
As Wasteserv’s front man, Ciantar wrestled with the legacy of Mount Maghtab to restore confidence in the government’s waste management strategy.
Throughout the past months Ciantar has been embroiled in the difficult task of convincing residents that the Sant Antnin recycling plant will not grow out of control.
But he refused to give in to their demand for a written guarantee ensuring that the plant will stick to its current waste capacity.
But public controversy shrouded Ciantar’s appointment since day one.
Back in 2002, just a few months after his appointment he was caught between the wrath of B’Bugia residents and Winston Zahra’s tourism concerns over the siting of the new engineered landfill.
In 2003, he was again embroiled in controversy when a quarry close to the Mnajdra Neolithic temples was chosen as the ideal site for a temporary landfill by than Minister Ninu Zammit.
After the Prime Minister scrapped this plan, Ciantar was entrusted with the management of the temporary landfills at Zwejra next to Ghallis. After the Zwejra landfill caught fire for the second consecutive time, Ciantar expressed his suspicion that this was the act of saboteurs.
In the beginning of summer, Minister Pullicino had proposed land reclamation as a solution to the country’s waste problem.
This could prove to be Ciantar’s next headache.
While there is no sign of a reshuffle at the ministerial level, the same cannot be said of various strategic positions in the country’s administration.
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