'Smell for yourself': Tuna processing factory insists it is stench-free

Any Birżebbuġa resident who believes that a new tuna recycling plant is causing foul smells should visit the factory and smell it for themselves, its CEO has said.

Charlon Gouder said that the Ħal Far plant is not responsible for any smells in the area and that inspectors had never reported a stench in any of their 60 inspections since October.

The factory is operated by Aquaculture Resources Limited, a company jointly set up by Malta’s largest tuna ranchers to process excess tuna into ingredients that can be sold on export.

Activists and residents have complained that an “unbearable stench,” has taken hold of Birrżebbuġa and the Ħal Far industrial estate ever since the factory started operating.

Following weeks of tensions, demonstrators were due to take to the streets of Birżebbuġa on Saturday morning to voice their discontent and demand that the plant be closed down until a solution to the stench can be found.  A factory tour, with next to no smells

But Gouder insists that they have it wrong.

The plant recyclels Tuna to fish feed and fish oil

He took Times of Malta on a tour of the factory on Friday, as its tuna processing machinery was operating in full flow.

The plant...