Jun 01 - Hammond: Gibraltar Is Not The Environmental Idyll Government Would Like Us To Believe
The Shadow Minister for the Environment, Trevor Hammond, has expressed his surprise at what he calls the “aggressive response” by Government to his Press Release last week in which it was stated that the GSD would be looking further into the matter of the World Health Organisation’s report on the very poor air quality in Gibraltar.
The GSD says that, having taken the time to examine available data, it is clear that the main causes of air pollution are the old generating stations and that while the delay in commissioning a new power station is to be regretted, it is clear that once Gibraltar has a new power station equipped with modern technology, “the air quality in Gibraltar should improve, though close monitoring must continue.” However, the party also says that the next worse contributor to air pollution is from vehicles adding that the number of vehicle on our streets rose by 4,500 between 2011 and 2014, and that judging by the emissions from some vehicles, “testing is completely inadequate.”
Mr Hammond said: "While the report makes depressing reading there is no need for Government to immediately go on the defensive. The prognosis is promising from the perspective of air quality with the advent of a new power station, though very close monitoring of its output will have to be conducted due to its proximity to populated areas. More certainly needs to be done with regard to vehicles and in particular, those with the highest emissions. It is not good enough to simply hope that people will buy more electric vehicles. The encouragement available to do so is simply not succeeding. I would also ask that Government finds ways to make available more up to date data on particulates as figures are often as much as five months old.
"Furthermore, concerns must be raised about the water quality at our beaches. The recent EU report indicating poor quality water at Western Beach and Sandy Bay cannot be ignored. While for the former the problem is known, for Sandy Bay it is a concern as the other east side beaches get a cleaner bill of health. Its relative proximity to the sewage outflow combined with the impact of the refurbishment works must be more clearly understood and Government must press forward with our sewage treatment plant. This double whammy by the EU and WHO in the past fortnight demonstrates we do not live in the environmental idyll that Government would like us to believe."
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