Ben Remfrey, managing director of world-leading bomb disposal training company Praedium Consulting Malta and the MAT Kosovo EOD & ERW Training Establishment, has accused civil servants of not prioritising the situation following the bombs’ likely discovery in June.
Home Affairs president Marc Leadbeater labelled Mr Remfrey’s comments as ‘speculative and inaccurate’.
A two-week deep search intrusive survey of the Route Isabelle field was conducted in June by contractor 6 Alpha Associates, during which three ‘anomalies’ were found.
Initial assessments indicated they were unexploded ordinance.
But Mr Remfrey said the States’ Emergency Planning team – part of Home Affairs – had made ‘zero’ progress on the issue since then, with delays in engaging the UK’s Defence Science & Technology Laboratory to conduct a risk assessment to evaluate if the bombs posed a threat to the general public and residents of the area.
Deputy Leadbeater admitted there had been a delay in engaging DSTL, but said Mr Remfrey’s assertion that no progress had been made as a result of this was ‘incorrect and misleading.’
He said an officer from Emergency Planning had advised Mr Remfrey via email on 1 October of the reason for the delay in signing the memorandum of understanding relating to the engagement of DSTL.
He added there had been an option to procure a private firm to provide the necessary risk assessment, but that would have only brought work forward by a matter of a few weeks.
Therefore, the decision was taken to wait for DSTL and save the taxpayer a ‘five-figure’ sum.
Addressing a further claim made by Mr Remfrey that an advisory role to Home Affairs he had been promised back in July had failed to materialise, Deputy Leadbeater said no advice had been needed from him up to this point.
He added his committee was committed to resolving the issue in a ‘timely and proportionate’ manner.
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