Utility rates won't go up under Labour, Sant pledges

A new Labour government will not raise water and electricity tariffs or meter rental rates, leader Alfred Sant promised yesterday.

Dr Sant made this pledge following a visit to Solar Water Systems in Marsa.

Questioned about the utility tariffs, Dr Sant said he was making a formal promise that he would not increase the rates, neither the rental fee. Several times throughout this campaign, he promised to halve the surcharge on water and electricity but he never spoke about the actual tariffs. Dr Sant said that as Prime Minister, he would come up with specific programmes promoting the use of alternative sources of energy. Such programmes would be the Prime Minister's responsibility.

He said that, in 1987, the PN promised that research would be carried out into the use of solar, wind, waves and similar sources of energy. In 1995, Francis Zammit Dimech promised that, by 2005, fiver per cent of the country's energy would come from the sun or the wind.

In 1998, the PN promised that solar energy systems would be installed in Maltese homes to reduce the burden on the power station. Five years later, Dr Sant said, the PN promised to develop solar and wind energy.

At the opening of the 1998 and the 2003 Parliaments, it was promised that Nationalist governments would draw up a plan for the best use to be made of solar energy in order to reduce the energy production expense incurred by power stations.

In February 2006, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said that a study on the viability of wind farms showed there was space in the north of Malta where about three windmills could be installed. He also said that the country had the choice of installing wind farms at sea.

In May that same year, the Prime Minister announced an international call for the development of a wind farm at sea as a source of alternative energy.

But following 20 years of Nationalist Administration, nothing of what had been promised was delivered, Dr Sant said.

Under Labour, Malta would aim to ensure that 10 per cent of Malta's energy would be derived from renewable sources by the end of the legislature.

Labour, Dr Sant said, was proposing to invest heavily in Enemalta. It would modernise the generation and distribution of electricity; support efforts aimed at having less wasted energy in residences, commercial and industrial buildings; invest to develop and encourage the operation of alternative sources of energy; and ensure an adequate provision of energy for the country, sustaining planned economic growth. On wind farms, he said that, although the development of a wind farm by Enemalta should be followed up, Labour would mostly focus on stand-alone windmills working on a micro basis.

For the first time since undergoing surgery in December, Dr Sant drove himself to his appointment.