Magħtab Farmers To Protest Land Seizure: ‘They’ll Have To Bulldoze Us Out Of Here’
Magħtab farmers will protest tomorrow morning against plans by Wasteserv to take their land to expand the waste treatment facility.
“Our land has been taken up bit by bit for waste treatment for the past 30 years, not to mention the problems caused to our land by the waste dumped in the area,” farmer Charlie Sciberras told Lovin Malta. “This plan will deal us a mortal blow and will destroy the livelihoods of all us farmers who live and work here.”
“I come from the third generation of farmers who have lived and worked here and the government cannot take a shred more land from us. They’re going to have to bulldoze us out of here.”
The protest will take place at 9am at the entrance to the Magħtab Environmental Complex and farmers are expected to bring farming vehicles along with them to stress how much is at stake for them.
Nationalist MPs Robert Cutajar and Edwin Vassallo have confirmed they will attend the protest, as have a number of environmental NGOs, including Moviment Graffitti.
Sciberras said Wasteserv has a huge plot of land the size of Valletta in the area which it can use to develop an incinerator and warned the entire process stinks of corruption.
“They’re after the rock on our land, which can be sold to contractors for several millions. We’ve been hearing about this incinerator for so many years but China mangled to build an entire hospital in seven days. How long can it take them to build an incinerator? There’s corruption and conflicts of interest at play here.”
Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia recently fired the entire Wasteserv board but Sciberras urged him to also fire its CEO Tonio Montebello.
Wasteserv CEO Tonio Montebello
“He has conflicts of interests tied up with more conflicts of interest and if he doesn’t leave, then Aaron Farrugia will have to shoulder responsibility.”
“None of us will leave our homes and I won’t stop here, I will take this all the way up to the European courts if needs be. I know of scandals involving millions of euro there and the truth will all come out.”
“I’ll take it step by step and see how Aaron Farrugia responds, but the government cannot take another shred of land from us.”
Are you going to attend the protest tomorrow?
READ NEXT: Dump Your Rubbish Elsewhere: Magħtab Residents Fight Back At Wasteserv’s Plan To Seize Their Land
