The Nationalist Party will be committed to a cheaper energy policy that will not only see bills go down but be cleaner and more efficient, Opposition Bernard Grech said on Sunday.
Grech announced that the PN will in the coming days propose a new energy policy that will favour electricity bought from the cheapest source in order to offer cheaper utility bills, he said during a political activity held in Valletta and broadcast live on NET TV.
“Energy is an essential part of the success we can reach in the future, not just in offering cheaper bills but to produce more efficient and cleaner energy that safeguards people’s health,” he said.
“Our plan looks at the long term. If you don’t look ahead and capitalise on new and emerging technology, you are working with expired politics. The government lost us €400 million in EU funds because it failed to look ahead and consider new technologies like hydrogen.”
In November the government’s bid to tap into EU funds to construct a 159-kilometre long, 22-inch diameter submarine pipeline that would connect the Delimara power station to Sicily was rejected, leaving it scrambling to find alternative funding for the project.
Grech said the PN would be basing its energy policies on four principle pillars, namely; an electricity supply that favours the cheapest source; a plan for the generation of alternative energy; a plan for wide-scale clean energy production; and the necessary infrastructure to move towards electricity-powered transport.
“It is pointless to have a plan for electric transportation if a successive government doesn’t follow through and it is pointless to purchase an electric vehicle if there are no places to charge it,” he said.
Moneyval and corruption
In his speech, Grech said the country was fresh off another week of “confusion and incompetence” from Prime Minister Robert Abela and the government.
The prime minister should be focused on ticking all the boxes to ensure a positive outcome on the Moneyval report with more urgency, Grech said, particularly as Malta had fallen to an all-time-low on Transparency International’s corruption perception index.
“We sincerely hope that the country doesn’t face problems when the Moneyval report comes out and while the damage is already done, the Opposition is helping and will continue to do so to ensure a good outcome,” Grech said.
“But when we point these indicators sliding down, Robert Abela calls us negative and instead of addressing a problem tries to convince you that all is well and we are living in heaven. This is not a person who is in touch with people’s reality and the hardships they are facing.”
COVID response
He said the government was failing to provide serious and effective leadership at a time when the country needs it the most, noting that a day after Abela announced that he would not be implementing a curfew, an 11pm curfew was imposed on restaurants.
“To be clear, when measures are necessary and backed by science, such as the new restrictions imposed are, we agree with them. But why trick people? Why say one thing and then the next day turn around and do the opposite of that?” Grech said.
Grech added that the prime minister was ignoring the reality of the pandemic by continuing to insist that normality is within quick reach, while COVID-19 case numbers and deaths continued to rise.
“The government continues to push the narrative that the vaccine is the only solution, but while we believe in vaccines and science, these alone are not the solution, we need to continue being attentive and show perseverance in the face of adversity,” he said.
“To reach herd immunity we need to implement diverse measures, such as solutions we have suggested, to use community pharmacies and family doctors to dispense vaccines. It doesn’t matter whether the government listens to us but we urge the implementation of necessary measures to get out of the pandemic as soon as possible.”