The delay in providing much needed water and sewerage schemes in Mayo due to the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) could soon be the subject of an investigation by the European Commission following a recent meeting between Labour's Cllr Keith Martin and Labour MEP Proinsias De Rossa. Labour's Cllr Keith Martin met with Mr De Rossa in the European Parliament last week to discuss the issue of the five stalled water and sewerage schemes in Mayo. Cllr Keith Martin was part of a delegation of Labour Party councillors and representatives who travelled to Brussels to met with Mr De Rossa. Currently Mayo has no less than five major sewerage and water schemes on hold due to a failure to meet the massive financial requirements under the Polluter Pays Principle under the European Water Framework Directive. According to Cllr Martin "Achill has been waiting 30 years for a sewerage scheme, Westport and Louisburgh are waiting for an connection to the Lough Mask, Kilitmagh is waiting on both a water connection to Lough Mask and a sewerage scheme, while Ballina is also waiting on an extension to its water supply system. "The numbers involved are huge for example, the Lough Mask connection to Westport and Louisburgh will cost €28m of which €8.5m is the County Council's payment under the Polluter Pays Principle, for the Kiltimagh sewerage Mayo County Council must pay €2.3m, for the area's water scheme the cost is €22m with a (PPP) contribution of €6m. "These are huge sums of money and until they are found these schemes are on hold. There is also no discrimination between rural and urban areas or extra support for the BMW region. "When I met with Mr De Rossa I outlined the situation to him and he was very receptive and has offered his full support in seeking a solution which will allow these vital water and sewerage schemes to go ahead. Mr De Rossa believes there may be a problem in how the Irish Government currently interprets the Water Directive and I am going to investigate the issue of implementation at local, national and European level. "There whole area of actual responsibility is a very grey area as local authorities blame national government , who then blame the EU; but I am not interested in assigning blame, I want to identify the real problem and find a solution. I have requested a full report on the impact of the Polluter Pays Principal in Mayo from the County Manager and I have also requested that the Department of the Environment do the same. "As a last resort Mr De Rossa will assist me in putting together a petition for a full investigation of Mayo's five stalled projects by the European Commission. It is obscene that Achill is waiting 30 years and that Westport faces water quality issues because of the delay in extending the Lough Mask Scheme to Westport and Louisburgh. Its time to stop the blame game and to find a solution." 086 0691182
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