The new gas power station that has been delayed by 15 months is another admission of failure by this government, according to the Nationalist Party.
Dubbing the latest announcement as “a Chinese excuse”, PN deputy leader Mario de Marco yesterday called for full disclosure of the government’s energy plans.
“The government has to publish all the documents it signed, including the agreement with Electrogas, the seven-year plan it is now saying it has on Enemalta, and the agreement it had with the Chinese State company [Shanghai Electric] for Enemalta’s privatisation,” he said.
Dr de Marco added: “Only a few weeks ago, the Prime Minister said the delay should be of two months. Now it’s at least 15 months. How can the electorate still trust the Prime Minister’s declarations?”
Any financial mess created by this delay will have to be financed by the consumers and not by Joseph Muscat
He contested the truthfulness of the government’s latest road map – sarcastically referring to it as “Mark II” – saying the government was not even saying when the new plant would start being built.
He asked the government to formally commit itself on the June 2016 deadline: Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi had only said Enemalta was expecting to start buying electricity through the new power plant by this date.
Dr de Marco said the delay would place increased strains on Enemalta’s finances and the government had so far declined to explain how the shortfall due to the lower tariffs and lack of cheap energy produced by the new power plant would now be financed.
“Before the election [Prime Minister] Joseph Muscat had boasted that his plan was costed and doable and that the new gas power station will produce energy at a lower price, saving the company some €187 million a year. Now, Dr Muscat is not saying where the money is coming from in the light of the latest delay.”
Asked why consumers should be preoccupied with the delay once their electricity bills would still be cheaper, Dr de Marco said apart from the fact that the government had clearly deceived the public with hollow promises, it was the public itself which at the end of the day would have to fork out any shortfall in finances.
“Any financial mess created by this delay will have to be financed by the consumers and not by Joseph Muscat or his government members,” he added.
PN spokesmen Tonio Fenech and George Pullicino, who also addressed the press conference, criticised the government for telling untruths when it already knew that its pre-electoral promises were not doable.