A group of 141 residents from Cottonera and the surrounding areas have filed a formal complaint with the Environment and Resources Authority regarding what they describe as extreme disruption caused by operations at the Palumbo-MSC Shipyard, saying they are suffering severely due to noise and dust that have been even worse than usual in recent weeks. In a letter addressed to the ERA, the residents explained that over the past weeks they have been afflicted by extreme noise often throughout all hours of the late night and early morning, and it is no exaggeration to say that it has been impossible to sleep for several nights in large areas of Senglea and Paola. They reported that blasting operations happen throughout the night and that an incessant, loud alarm has been going off all day long for days on end, which they believe is activated when the crane on the dredger currently in the shipyard is in use.
The complaint highlighted that the police have, on more than one occasion, responded to residents by stating they cannot enforce anything given the nature of the shipyard’s business, because the permit EP 0023/17 does not include hours for noisy operation or other stipulations to ensure the densely populated area is not adversely affected. Given that the permit is issued by the ERA and that the authority also oversees environmental noise regulations, the residents lodged their complaint and request directly with it. Beyond noise, residents in Senglea, particularly on Triq Felic, Triq Mark Mifsud Tomasi and Triq San Gwann, are suffering a lot of dust debris from blasting occurring in Dock number 4.
The ERA is the competent authority responsible for environmental permitting and noise regulations in Malta, and shipbuilding areas are widely recognized as sources of high noise from drills, presses, circular saws and blasting that can be very disturbing for citizens. The residents’ letter underscores growing frustration in communities located next to industrial port activities, where nighttime operations and lack of specific permit conditions on operating hours have left households exposed to levels of noise that they say exceed what is considered safe, let alone acceptable in the middle of the night. The authority has been asked to intervene and review the permit conditions to address the environmental and wellbeing impacts being reported by the 141 signatories.
