Marsascala Family Park closed down because of “sulphur dioxide levels”, but the readings are well below the legally permissible level
Herr Flick, another one of those poisonous midgets from the Golden Years of Mintoff and KMB, has shut down the Marsascala Family Park, a big hit with people who have children and dogs, because “sulphur dioxide levels in the air are dangerously high”.
And yet, as the readings taken by the air quality monitoring station on site show (graphic uploaded here), the level of sulphur dioxide is actually way below the limit of 125 micrograms per cubic metre.
It was Leo Brincat himself who referred people to the station readings, knowing most would become confused about how to find them, but he did not say what they are.
Whatever the reason for closing down that park, it’s not sulphur dioxide in the air. It’s probably the bilious spite and bitternes that run through Herr Flick’s veins instead of blood, hence his ghastly, waxen pallor.
50 Comments Comment
Reply to Bunchofliars Click here to cancel reply
He actually even quoted the readings himself showing that the levels are OK but at the same time seemingly implying that they aren’t.
The Malta Independent reported:
The monitoring exercise is being conducted over a period of time to determine the levels of emissions and despite the fact no high emissions have been reported as yet, the highest emissions recorded were 11.4% of the average accepted by the EU (daily limit value).
Is this actually a quote of what the government is saying? That’s what I understand from the article but maybe it is my mistake.
If it is indeed the government saying this then then the whole issue is confusing – the government says the the park is closed because of the bad air quality, while at the same time declaring that there is actually no problem with the air quality.
Also why is the PN saying the maximum concentration is 1.8% of the permitted amount whereas the government is saying 11.4%. Which is the right figure and why such a big difference in something which should be a straightforward measurement?”
The chart says it all I suppose.
Highest at 9.15 during the month the maximum acceptable being 125..
The maximum level permissible is 1.8% of the total volume of air. The average reading is 11.8% of that (I.e 11.8% of 1.8%) or 0.2124%. I’m not sure why you’re confused. There’s no ambiguity in the statement.
There is indeed no ambiguity in the statement – it very clearly and mathematically states that there is no problem.
What is confusing is that the government is saying that the park was closed because of the toxic gas and then backs that up with a statement that there is no problem with toxic gas.
One normally backs up a decision with evidence that supports it, not one that contradicts it, as the government seems to be doing in this instance.
Either that or the person who wrote that statement doesn’t even understand what it means – perhaps it was some ex Maltarats/Sooper wan reporter who wrote it.
Guess what happened.
As far as I understand, 11.4% of the permitted emission level was the highest point ever registered while 1.8% was the highest daily average. In both cases the level of emissions has always been very low and perfectly safe.
This is the whole point: Leo Brincat lied when he said the park had to be closed because of harmful emissions.
Leo Brincat is spiteful and full with envy. Years ago, MLP used that area in the south to make it a garbage damp, while the PN government turned that area into a family park. Now he found a preposterous excuse to close it.
The business community in the Marsascala area are hurting only because of s spiteful decision.
My understanding is that the business community in Marsascala wanted that family park closed to divert people back to Marsascala front.
On another matter, what do Valletta and science in Malta have in common?
They both were screwed by Joseph Muscat who appointed incompetent persons as Chairmen of the respective responsible agencies, namely VRC and MCST. Both positions were used to reward persons for abusing their position in the past to facilitate PL’s win in the elections. JPO abused his position of a Member of Parliament in a one seat majority; Zammit Tabona abused his position as a regular supposedly impartial columnist of the Times.
By using these positions to reward for services rendered, Joseph Muscat showed what little importance he gives to Valletta and to scientific research; both of which, incidentally, I believe to be of vital importance for Malta’s economy.
It is ironic that JPO himself said that scientific research should be given national priority. The way to do that would have been to appoint someone appropriate for the post.
As an aside, the appointment of Valletta 2018 Chairman underlines the difference between an NP government and a PL government in appointing people to positions which are considered vital. The former appointed a non-politician who PN Ministers believed could do a good job; and they were proven right. The latter appointed a politician. It is not the appointment of a politician per se with which I disagree but the lack of effort by the PL to appoint someone who has the understanding, the skills and the motivation to deliver.
Hemm xi haga ‘tinten’.
The highest daily average was on day 28, which was 31 August.
This is the daily average and therefore there must have been a higher figure along the day than 9.15 ug/m3 in the table.
This was 11.4ug/m3.
Minister Brincat, totally ignorant of such scientific terms as micrograms per cubic metre (ug/m3), totally confused the maximum read figure in absolute terms of 11.4 ug/m3 and quoted 11.4%. This is his mathematical limit of number relationships.
The PN is possibly averaging the months readings which comes to 2.25ug/m3.
Whatever it is Herr Flick who is totally wrong while the PN are realistic.
But even with Flick’s numbers, the place is perfectly safe.
This shows that Flick is simply deciding out of spite and hatred.
If I were the PN I would gatecrash the park, what the hell.
I went to the park on Friday evening, only to be kicked out by a fat, rude security woman wearing a JF uniform.
She was wearing no mask.
So we were forcibly sent out because the government decided it is too dangerous for us to visit for an hour, but it’s OK for the security personnel to spend days on end in the park with no protection from the imaginary gases.
And shouldn’t it be my prerogative if I want to risk going there? If the threat is real shouldn’t the whole area be out of bounds?
So I can have a picnic in the car park outside the entrance but not on the lawn? Ridiculous.
So instead we went to the swings further down the road, breathing the clean air full of car fumes.
A couple of weeks before the election I had placed a casual bet with members of my family that if Labour won the elections, the family park in Marsascala would have been closed before the year was out.
I soon realized that my estimate had been too optimistic.
Although there’s nothing wrong in principle about a newspaper having a television show (media companies need to diversify in these straitened times), one can’t help wondering whether the show to be launched soon on TVM is The Times’s iced bun for all those column inches dedicated to Tonio Fenech’s clock and all those others having a collective orgasm about Joseph Muscat.
The newspaper, still bashing Arriva and trying to pin the oil scandal on the man, still seems to be more intent on hounding Austin Gatt (who has never been found guilty of anything despite all the mud throwing) rather than asking incisive questions to the people who are now in charge.
The Malta Independent is definitely the newspaper to buy these days. Its front page articles tend to be the most relevant and it has a good team of writers.
Who’s on the board choosing TVM shows again?
http://www.timesofmalta.com/mobile/view/20130908/local/Times-of-Malta-on-TVM-with-weekly-show.485209
Agreed.
Had a little chat with one of its leading ‘journalists’ late July, awards and all, he wasn’t even aware of the major changes proposed for Marsaxlokk.
At least, that’s the impression I got. What seems to matter at The Times is to milk a story in keeping with their slant, preferably anti-GonziPN.
So they managed a regime change, still, they prefer carrying on with their pathetic notice board, keeping Muscat’s blunders, u-turns and downright lies to a couple of lines.
It’s safe to bash GonziPN and his legacy.
This week it was some residential block in San Gwann, not Muscat’s decision to carry on with HFO. It was the same meeting if you please, the one where Astrid Vella walked out before that was discussed.
The hypocrisy of this place knows no bounds.
Miskina Marlene Mizzi, she doesn’t like to be criticised.
Today’s post about “playing with the Fb” during committee sessions:
John Busuttil, tal – 43 years mal PN, irid idahhhaq minghalih.
Now that he has a column on the ILLUM ( and a job with OneTV ) thinks he can be witty and get away with it .
Not at my expense Johnny boy.
His insinuation that I was playing with the Fb during a committee session ( when I reported that a foreign MEP was playing with cards) is completely wrong and misleading – not to say spiteful too. The least he could have done is asked me when I posted , and I would have told him of the breaks between speakers that we have in Committees, during which , yes , I open my iPad.
It seems that Johnny Boy’s standards dictate more concerned about a three second posting on my Facebook ,than an MEP playing with cards all the time!
Pero’ imbasta ikkritika lil xi hadd Malti ….. u mela l- kolonna
Daphne, the bilious spite and bitterness run down through all the ranks of the Labour Party. Here in Mellieha our petty-minded mayor has spitefully removed all the photographs of projects done under the previous administration adorning the walls of our Local Council.
He also regularly posts spiteful comments on his Facebook page to try to undermine the achievements done under the tenure of the previous mayor.
They cannot stomach the PN’s success story and are trying hard to rewrite history by continuing where they left off in 1987.
What frightens me is that they will succeed in rewriting history, as they have done already with several aspects of it (e.g Jum il-Helsien).
Memory is selective and easily influenced.
Our psyche can go to great lengths to alleviate the cognitive dissonance caused by one’s political affiliation/loyalty and actual deeds and events.
And while I was on Ms. Marlene Mizzi’s page, I was shocked to read that she does not agree with a statement made by Madi Sharma that “Malta’s men are keeping Malta bottom in E.U” when it comes to gender equality.
She writes: “Charles: I do not agree with the title statement quoting Ms Sharma either….and I will be there to speak my mind”.
Of course Malta’s men are responsible for keeping the gender divide in the workplace, they are the major decision and policy makers.
I find it very worrying that, as a woman who has a voice because of her position, Marlene Mizzi chooses not to take a stand against gender bias against women.
And if you can’t get another woman in a position of power to defend gender equality in the workplace, imagine how we can ever convince the men.
Another reason that I am making the right choice not voting for this woman and voting for Helga Ellul. I would rather a woman who doesn’t speak Maltese and will defend my rights on gender equality than one who back-stabs their own sex.
http://www.di-ve.com/news/%E2%80%9Cmaltas-men-are-keeping-malta-bottom-eu%E2%80%9D-madi-sharma
How can Malta move forward in this very important issue when we have women like Ms Marlene Mizzi as one of our country’s representatives?
Would Ms Mizzi be so kind as to tell us what/who is responsible then, for the lack of gender equality?
How irresponsible of the government to say this, especially with Inspire next door, not to mention the people who own businesses and property in the area.
Oh, but this is pure Labour. Have power will speculate.
Muscat has access to the Lands Department, remember.
I remember how much the MLP valued the south where the majority voted and still vote labour and how much the pro labour voters never ever complained as long as these things were done by their party.
It gave the south two presents – two mizbliet, one of all places at the entrance to Hagar Qim Temples which was started but discontinued afterwards. (Mintoff “kien ji—-ek” mill-kostituzzjoni ahseb u ara mill-ambjent!)
The second mizbla was dumped at Wied Fulija. Did Reno Callejja and the rest of the labour gallopini from the south raise a finger to prevent it? It still exists and I wonder when this valley will be fully rehabilitated. Until a few years ago debris from it used to float to Wied Zurrieq and it was only when the PN was elected that Wied Fulija was no longer used as a mizbla..
Oh and during the latter’s heyday you coudn’t hang out the washing on certain days because of ash and burning paper that would turn roofs, streets and clothes black. In the right wind condition the cloud of ash would reach as far as Zabbar.
And the cherry on the cake was the drainage purification ( sorry can’t get the right word) at M’Scala. Again no protests by pro labour activists then.
I also remember being asked by some labourites to sign a petition to stop the rehabilitation at St. Antin. They asked me why I refused to sign and I answered “you never came when the Mintoff government created the other rubbish dumps”.
No worries about asthma or cancer then. Viva l-lejber.
Actually Reno did try, banished to oblivion for attempting to contradict il-perit. It’s how Karmenu Vella became il-Guy.
Coal ash, asbestos, chemical by-products. Wied Fulija is literally a poison taboo.
it sounds like one of those exercises to ridicule the PN whilst paying a consultant to prepare a shoddy report, but for quick remuneration. We saw several such reports cooked up in 1996-1998.
The park was not closed because of SO2, (and never in their (politicans/officials) replies to myself given SO2 as a reason)
I would like to apologise for the delay to reply to your email below. Issues needed to be discussed and I assure you we are monitoring the situation.
WasteServ carries out ambient air monitoring from various offsite locations around the park, the results of which can be found on the website at http://www.wasteservmalta.com/santantnin.aspx. The website currently indicates results up to March 2013, however results for June will be published shortly. These results are also forwarded to MEPA and to the Marsascala Local Council for their information.
As can be seen from the results, most parameters are below detectable levels. As regards to the other parameters, the results are much less than the limits imposed through the EU for the protection of human health. This implies that, according to the measurements available, the Company is not aware of any risks for residents in the area of the Sant’Antnin Waste Treatment Plant.
I hope the information given is helpful, please do not hesitate to contact us for more information you require.
Best regards,
Customer Care
WasteServ Malta Ltd.
With reference to yesterday’s media conference Minister Brincat stated that WasteServ are currently carrying out real time tests which have turned out to be positive. Although WasteServ see no room for concern, they shall continue with such tests to reassure and put workers, residents or even park visitors people’s minds at rest.
The decision to close the park was not a unilateral decision but an opinion put forward by the expert review team. Dr Muscat was merely endorsing the measure we took – to take all necessary precautionary measures – which we did, are and will continue to take.
Regards,
Secretariat Pool
There is something which I cannot understand.
“WasteServe see no room for concern.”
“The decision to close the park…(was an endorsement of)..an opinion put forward by the expert review team.”
Where is the link? And if there is one, should this not be spelled out clearly in terms that could be checked by the public?
There’s a Facebook group – which you probably have heard of – calle “Help the Children at Hal Far”.
They do sterling work, collecting donations of basic things like sheets, towels, clothes, etc and also other things like toys, bikes, etc.
Unfortunately, only last week, the children’s paddling pool was found ripped when it was brought out of the store for the children to splash in. The photo provided on Facebook shows that the rip was far from accidental.
Now, unfortunately, the people collecting and distributing the donations are no longer allowed to distribute what are usually bare essentials.
Perhaps that pompous Faberge-egg-shaped man who made a brouhaha about distributing fruit supplied by others would care to look into the reason why and make it public.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151514144881735&set=gm.673686095992262&type=1&theater
and
“It sounds great altough at the moment everything is on hold till some serious decisions are made….i refuse to continue when baby pools are being found ripped and the people running there are the same ones that threatened they need no more donations and would be throwing all the donations there away” (Which probably does not mean that they are not allowed to distribute, but that it is being made impossible for them to do so without any hindrance. Either way, the minister concerned should look into the matter, because these people should not be left what are usually necessities.)
State sanctioned klan.
How utterly humiliating.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/mobile/view/20130908/local/-EU-did-not-understand-PM-s-migration-message-.485211
One comment seems the voice of reason: “What he is saying, and quite rightly so, is that the PM sent out the wrong message.”
I would not be amazed if Visser gets savaged by the Maltese “marmalja”in the same way as Malmstorm. Of course, its just a case of stick and stones for them, but irreperable damage to our reputation.
I bet that the SO2 levels outside the Super One building exceed those at Sant Antnin.
Best shut it down to be safe.
Times of Malta has launched an online poll “Are you happy with Labour’s first six months in government?”
Considering that the internet version has been taken over by Labour elves, it’s interesting to note that only 40% said ‘Yes’ and 52% said ‘No’. 1,040 have voted up to now.
The labour elves are on a 5 year holiday, only a few diehards like Eddy Privitera are still trolling the forums
It’s now 35% Yes and 58% No this morning.
What’s really baffling is that there’s a % ‘Don’t know’. Where are they living?
And counting..it’s now 57% NO! And happy to be one of them!
Shouldn’t Herr Flick carry political responsibility for any high level of gases in the park and its closure, and for the original cause of those gases?
Based on the explanations given by his Ministry when the closure of the Marsascala park was announced, any gases would have been emitted as a consequence of burns of acidic gases which took place in May.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130719/local/family-park.478669
It looks as if the Ministry of one of Labour’s “cutting-edge” dinosours from the Golden Years had no idea what was happening at Wasteserv, and of the consequences of such burns.
And why did they speak out 2 months later, after exposing so many people for so long to the risks which they claim?
The excuse given here that “The ministry believed that the fault was a symptom of the previous government’s bad management and lack of planning” is too simplistic and is based on beliefs, not on specific facts and independent confirmation. Why should we believe the Ministry on such a serious matter? Didn’t this incident happen a full 2 months after the elections?
Incidentally, the timing of the burns coincides with the appointment of a new Labour chairman, a former aide of Joseph Muscat, and a predominantly Tana Lkoll board.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-05-17/news/pms-former-aide-named-wasteserv-chairman-1617625095/
Back to the Times report, the Ministry is putting too much emphasis on what the “experts” said. In my view this is only a feeble attempt to hide the political responsibility for what caused the emission of gases in the first place, and to exhonerate the predominantly Tana Lkoll board.
The emission of poisonous gases is a hazardous accident and should be subjected to an enquiry by appropriate independent authorities, not to an “investigation” by “experts” appointed by the Minister in charge. It’s even worse if those experts are working on a “voluntary basis.”
Dream on, Ciccio.
What appropriate independent authority, this ME & PA led by that feeble excuse of a case officer?
It seems Edward Mallia got himself into another fix. Wonder what he has to say about this data, and how he managed to get the blame.
But then, there he was, confusing LNG supertankers for LPG carriers shuttling to and fro oil refineries.
The whizz kid’s having second thoughts on how to hit the ground running.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Interim-transition-to-diesel-could-threaten-security-of-supply-20130909
Wasn’t he the ultimate consultant in all things energy, supply, hedging, deals and whatnots in London? Bashing Tonio for being a prudish accountant, losing out on opportunities.
Then he becomes him.
Someone who has an interest in toxicity levels, because of animals kept VERY close by, decided to have an unbiased and reliable entity carry out necessary tests – results showed that the area is absolutely safe.
So what’s keeping back the decision to reopen the park? The shut down, forlorn park is a constant reminder of having a lovely recreational area for families and others that is being wasted, with enjoyment and money down the drain.
This is a poignant reminder especially if you live in the vicinity or just across the main road, where you can see it all the time. Reminds me of giving Karm Mifsud Bonnici’s car to Franco Debono…spite, spite, and more spite.
What this report does is that it exposes to ridicule Edward Mallia, who was behind and defended the decision to close the park.
I hover between thinking that the PL has every intention of winning the next election to being absolutely convinced that they have no intention whatsover of winning another election in the next 15 years.
This government’s actions are so contradictory. One day they are populist, for example with the case of destroying decades of goodwill with our neighbours over 102 potential refugees, and then the next they decimate support in their heartland.
I’m at the point where I have no idea what they are thinking anymore, if indeed they are thinking – which I doubt actually.
According to Il-Mument party membership cards are being returned to the PL in protest, admittedly because they have a sense of entitlement of course and have not yet had their unemployable delinquents for relatives employed by the state.
If it was true that toxic gases were released, how are Wasteserv employees still doing their job without any protection? And the nearby residents – are they in danger? What about nearby Inspire? Or is it that they are immune to toxic gas?
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130909/local/marsascala-family-park-to-reopen-within-days.485442
What a coincidence!
It is not the issue which is confusing; it is a confused government which cannot interpret numbers. Just imagine how reliable the next Budget’s numbers will be.
The Nationalist Party said it right – it is a case of vindictiveness, and purposeful misinterpretation of facts.
stop separating waste until park is open
The PL/MLP has been taking the Maltese nation for a ride since before the election. The Delimara HFO generation units were described as cancerous, but the truth is that Delimara is first of all situated at a strategic point from where all flue exhausts (after scrubbing) are carried away by the prevailing winds towards the sea.
The prevailing winds in Malta are (please refer to the term wind-rose) North West, North East, West, South West. All these winds carry the flue gases (mostly water vapour and innocuous carbon dioxide) out towards the sea. It is only the South East, which is the rarest of all wind directions, that carry flue gases towards Marsaxlokk and further inland. But then, the height of the chimney is enough for all exhaust to disperse ABOVE that village.
Now for what is cancerous.
According to the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer it is not HFO which is found carcinogenic (causes cancer) but Diesel. A damning report published by the IARC in June 2012 tells us that diesel fumes are carcinogenic with people who work in diesel exhaust environments are highly prone to lung cancer and to a lesser extent to bladder cancer.
So, when JOSEPH MUSCAT was insisting that the BWSC engines should run on diesel instead of HFO he was actually PROMOTING CANCER in MARSAXLOKK. Remember that the existing high chimney is earmarked to be pulled down by this government, so diesel exhaust will be exhausted at low level which could easily reach Marsaxlokk village.
The IARC report is found here
http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2012/pdfs/pr213_E.pdf
and includes:
>>
Lyon, France, June 12, 2012 ‐‐ After a week-long meeting of international experts, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organization (WHO), today classified diesel engine exhaust as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), based on sufficient evidencethat exposure is associated with an increased risk for lung cancer.
<>Evaluation
The scientific evidence was reviewed thoroughly by the Working Group and overall it was concluded that there was sufficient evidence in humans for the carcinogenicity of diesel exhaust. The Working Group found that diesel exhaust is a cause of lung cancer (sufficient evidence) and also noted a positive association (limited evidence) with an increased risk of bladder cancer (Group 1).
<>Police said that the Chinese executives opened fire on workers protesting against poor pay and conditions at the Collum coal mine in the southern Sinazongwe province on Friday.
Eleven people were admitted to hospital with wounds to the stomachs, hands and legs, and two are understood to remain in a critical condition.
A Foreign Ministry official in Beijing said that the shooting was a “mistake” but the incident has fuelled demands to curb China’s overwheening position in mine investments.<>We know we can’t be protected by this government because it has been heavily corrupted by the Chinese for the 2011 elections and the current by-elections,” said Michel Sata..<<
So Joseph Muscat begs China to send us Chinese managers to manage our energy generation and distribution. The Chinese do not employ ‘local people’. As one African leader said: “The European colonisers, at least, built us schools and hospitals, but the Chinese are here just to take away our resources.”
The utter contempt that these government ministers are showing for the intelligence of the people of Malta must be explained by an unmerited confidence, acquired after the last general election, in which so many thousands of voters stupidly proved that there is no limit to their stupidity in swallowing uncritically any amount of incredible lies fed to them by the LP propaganda machine.
The decision to close the park is a low and spiteful PL move.
If they are so concerned about these supposed emissions, what kind of support or protection do the people who live in park surroundings get? So far nothing has been mentioned about us.