Bitmac applies to sanction illegal concrete plant despite resident concerns

The owners of a controversial tarmac plant in the area of Tal-Balal, between San Gwann and l-Iklin, have applied for a permit to sanction an illegal concrete batching plant they have been operating in the same location.

This move comes after years of complaints by residents, who have voiced their concerns about the plant’s operations.

Through the services of JG Periti – involved in other controversies – the owners of Bitmac filed application PA04614/24 to sanction their illegal concrete plant and at the same time change the location of their hot asphalt plant.

The application reveals that the tarmac plant will only be shifted sideways, creating more space for operators to engage in additional commercial activities. This includes the operation of the concrete plant and the storage of recycled material, a task they are handling following a direct order from Wasteserv worth over a million. This expansion could potentially have a significant impact on the local community.

So far, the Planning Authority has not issued its recommendation on how this application is to be handled and is giving the public until the beginning of September to object.

The Bitmac plant has been developed piecemeal from the mid-90s on what was once agricultural land turned into an industrial area, with a large tarmac plant forming part of its core activity.

The tarmac plant was also installed initially without a permit and later sanctioned by the Planning Authority. Its largest client is the government, which pays millions yearly to get tarmac supplies for its many road projects.

Only last year, residents surrounding the plant, from Birkirkara, Iklin and San Gwann, called for the plant’s closure,  claiming that continuous emissions from the plant were not only leaving a stench but also negatively affecting their health.

A petition was also signed while protests were led by ADPD – The Green Party, calling for the industrial hazardous plant’s closure.

The government’s agencies responsible for the monitoring of the plant, including the Environmental Health Directorate and the Environment and Resources Authority announced that they were monitoring the situation. Yet no real action was ever taken.

The plant is the property of three major construction firms, the owners of which are close to the ruling Labour Party and considered donors to both major parties during their electoral campaigns.

Naipaul Developments, Schembri Barbros and V&C Investments are the shareholders of Bitmac Ltd.

An analysis of the three shareholders indicates a close, tight-knit group of families exerting a large degree of influence in the construction sector, especially with the state’s infrastructure projects.

The controlling directorship of all the shareholding companies is largely in the hands of Paul Magro, Anthony Schembri, and Vincent Borg, known as Censu n-Nizz, and their families. Their business interests extend to several other commercial sectors.

The Magro and Borg families, for example, were involved in the consortium Link 2018 JV, the entity awarded the multi-million-euro Central Link project, later expanded with an underpass that was not in the original tender, raking in additional millions.

The Schembris, acting via Schembri Barbros on behalf of the Barbros Group, also jointly own a company known as ABB Ltd, whose shareholders consist of one member of each family – Vincent Borg, Paul Magro and Anthony Schembri.