Updated: Power cut across Malta as Parliament debates Enemalta estimates

@ J Martinelli: As usual, you talk before seeing what happened and jump ship immediately without seeing why things are said. You also fail to notice your posts, which, with all due respect, do not make sense at all and seem to come from another planet. Mr Martinelli, before talking to others about amusement, tiresome posts and the way others are attacked, see how you do these things yourself. Kif jghid il malti int sur martinelli, tara l farka f' ghajn haddiehor bla ma tara t travu li ghandek int

@ J Martinelli: Seems to me you fail to see how much you ridicule others just because they don't agree with you. Maybe you can see your 'points' and 'arguments' and be able to entertain yourself with them

Yes Mr. A Galea, you have the absolute right to defend your points to death.

Please continue to do so because many of your points amuse us.

When you use your 'points' to ridicule or attack others then your points become tiresome.

Mr Ellul, try to search for statistics in a dictionary and then see what the answer is. If you have the divine right to 'defend to death' your points, so do I, right? It is also arrogant to call other people are imaging, just because they do not agree with you. You are saying that everyone has right to have an opinion, but the way you are talking and answering, you are making the exact opposite.

@A Galea: Wrong again. It is you who is reading my numbers as statistics. You may call my numbers whatever you want, but I always called them numbers and never statistics. IT IS ONLY YOU THAT IS IMAGINING THAT I CALLED THEM AS SUCH. Furthermore re your false claim that I think that I m God: I do not intend to do God under this blogathron (am I the first person to refer to a long and drawn-out discussion on the net as a blogathron? My Spell-checker is refusing to accept this word), but I assure you that I am not Him, I am not trying to be Him and shall never be Him. Should there have been anything that I wrote that indicated even remotely that I could be Him, then I apologise for the wrong impression. Meanwhile my numbers remain what they are. You have the divine right to disagree and I will defend to death (mine not yours) your right to disagree.

@ Alex Ellul: 'I provided you with figures, numbers, arithmetic.' Aren't these Statistics Mr Ellul? Or are these only immagination from your head?

@A Galea: You accused me of: "talk nonsense and pulling out figures at random, funnily enough you call them statistics". I have copied and pasted ALL comments under this news item on MS word, did a search for the word 'statistic'. You know what? This word cropped up 4 times, all four instances under your own comments. My comments do not contain one single word 'statistic'. Further comments are superfluous. Bye.

@ Alex Ellul: As usual, when cornered you revert to insults. Sorry for my condition? What about you, moaning about the tax you were 'robbed' during the 80's acording to you? And you call me arrogant? Just who spent all his time moaning about the tax, pretending that someone pays it for him? I just talked about what happened to me, my son and my family and friends during these 'progressive' days as I got fed up of you moaning and talking nonsense, and you feel pitty for me? Just shows who the real arrogant person is! People like you think that you are like God and that you are always right and you have the divine right to talk nonsense and pulling out figures at random, funnily enough you call them statistics, and then no one can critisize you back. And we are living in a land of freedom! Please..

@ Alex Ellul: I am the one who doesn't accept reality? Just look who's talking! Just who is fantasising? Did I tell you to go and check to see who lives in the housing estates? I know as I go in those areas Mr Ellul, and unlike what you said, I DO know what is happening around me, unlike you, whose blue tinted glasses just fail to show what is happening in reality. But of course, once cornered you call others names that in reality, are in you. to say that MCAST is a success and better than Fellenberg is the icing on the cake. Just see people even working abroad who achieved a degree from Fellenberg and see their success. Can we say the same of MCAST? But brainwashed people like you say that these are not true, that now we live in 'progress'. It is people like you who refuse to look to reality. It is people like you who kill a contry's progress. But I am the one who refuses to look! Maybe that is why we have this deficit and we have the roads in such a bad states. Call that 'progress' Mr Ellul!

@A Zammit: I provided you with numbers which are real not imaginary. You keep insisting that I show you from where I get them. ITs all there you see. Its all written in large text on the wall. The problem is that you have a problem: You refuse to look. You refuse to accept reality. Reality is history. Reality is the present. The quality of the present is better then the past. It has always been like that because humanity is always achieving progress, even if sometimes we went through wars, pestilence, hunger etc. I hope, and am pretty sure, that the future will be better than today. However this depends on us. We have this great opportunity, called democracy, by which we can decide what type of future we and our descendants may have. Each decision taken is irriversible, because time is irreversible. Consider the Iranian people and what they are going trough now to achieve freedom from the dictators. They are going through this now, because they took some fundamentally bad decisions in the past, now they have to redress that mistake by a lot of suffering. Bye.

@A Galea: Wrong again; I did not give you allegations, I provided you with figures, numbers, arithmetic. If numbers are opinion according to your politicalfaith, the so be it. I m sorry for your condition. Re the loss of your son's job, I can only show my sympathy. To expect me to solve your personal problem is kind of arrogant, I think. I never expected anybody to solve tje loss of my jobs during Mr. Mintoff's time. I just went working hard some place else. I know what your son is feeling at the moment cause I ve been trough it a long time ago when I needed money the most, feeding babies.

@ Alex Ellul: So you think that with your allegations you answered. Well if I am to write about what the PN government did to me and my family (thank God we now have 'choices' sic) I would never stop. But since I was posting about the subject and you turned it out in a political fight, calling me Red supporter, Socialist all because I did not agree with you. It is why this government will always fail, since it has egoistic people who only think about their well being rather than the country. You reign this country with 'me alright, you buzz off' attitude. That is why I will never trust a PN government, since people like you will always blackmail it , and when there will be a non PN government, people like you will always act like victims and talk about the 'dark days' not caring what you are making others suffer. Maybe you will be able to give my son back the job he lost Mr Ellul, thanks to your government's promises, amongst others?

@ Alex Ellul: I already did challenge you to go and see who lives in the housing estates. To your surprise, you will find Nationalists and labourites, not just 'red supporters'. I already know who lives in them, it is up to you to come and see who lives there. Regarding taxes. Only the 120% Surcharge? As if it is not enough! And we only pay 18% Vat? How about the invisibile taxes we pay such as tax on buying property, selling property, import and export, which you moaned about in the 80's, car tax which we pay ILLEGALLY as per the EU and the list continues? Lack of scientific knowledge by KMB? So how come his predictions proved right? Again failing to show me where you get figures Mr Ellul regarding University. MCAST much better? You talk about lufthansa, just go and see what really is happening in there! Ironically, MCAST is being in news lately for its failures! Facts please not words!

@AZammit&AGalea: Cont'd.
Re KMB's dwarf power stations proposal: Should you know about the term "economies of scale", you would not have commented on KMB's ambition of building small power stations around Malta. Furthermore, power stations, even if they are nuclear, need water to condense the steam etc. In Malta we only have sea water, hence Power stations can only be built in a low-lying coastal area, which in Malta happens to be the east coast, between Mellieha and Delimara. Imagine having 6 or 8 power sations on the east coast all requiring oil bunkering. What would the east coast's environment be today/ It would be just one oil bunkering shore. The other option would be monstrous road oil tankers runnung like mad delivering heavy fuel oil all over the islands, including Gozo, one presumes. This shows KMB's lack of scientific knowledge and how some people manage to gobble up his fairy tales hook, line and sinker.

@AZammit&AGalea: What I had said was that Air Malta was a very expensive success, expensive because it was financed by our taxes and not by economic realism. It is very easy to raise taxes, anybody in a position of power can collect taxes, any man in the street can recommend the raising of taxes to fill the national coffers with gold, but that was the policy during the times of Kings, Barons, and feudalism. Modern successful economists would rather keep taxes as low as possible and let the private initiative flourish. I would recommend a crash course in basic economics.
University: Today there are over 10,000 at university at an average duration of 4 years. Let's say that 20% fail to make it. That leaves 8000. That means that 2000 graduate every year. During Mr. Mintoff and KMB's times, there were about 800 to 900 students on average 5 years duration. That leaves about 200 or so graduating every year, if no students dropped out.
The 120% surcharge is on Electricity, nothing else. Most things are taxed at 18% VAT and non EU items hve an additional 9% or thereabouts. CONT'D...2

@AZammit&AGalea: Here goes: Housing; Go and have a tour of our housing estates and see who lives where. Fellenberg was a very good electronics school at diploma level. Students came out certified in industrial electronics. But where were other science subject thought? NOWHERE because MCAST was shut down by Mr. Mintoff. The teachers' colleges were closed too and transferred to the University from where the Theology course was forced to make a brave disappearance. The Trade schools were low-technology schools, whose level of technology would today be only utilisable in labour-intensive industries, the type that have already abandoned our industrial estates to move to third-world countries such as China and India. Hence, in those days, there were no high calibre technical courses of real value upon which a modern industrial base could be built.
Today's MCAST, as was the original MCAST, is filling this most basic role. The truth about it's level of quality does not lie in what you or I say, but in what investors, such as Lufthansa say.
I never referred to Air Malta as Ghasfur tac-Comb in my comments. ...CONT'D

@ Alex Ellul: 'Again you failed to tell me where you got the figures. Again you failed to see who got housing, with the sorry excuse that you did not get it, if it is true. Fellenberg was more capable than MCAST, and I need not show you why, seeing the sorry state MCAST is today. Also, you failed to mention the closing of the trade schools. Regarding your 'points': Air Malta: The famous 'ghasfur tac comb ma jtirx'. The payments we have to pay today, for it AND Sea Malta, was because this incompetent government, with his 'money no problem' attitude, just put Malta with the deficit we have today, so nothing became sustainable thanks to it. Regarding the Dellimara Powerstation, KMB wanted more small power stations around Malta, which today it proved he was right. He was NOT against a new powerstation, he just wanted more sustainability. But as usual, the PN media changed his speech like it did to past (and the present) leaders of PL. And brainwashed people think of voting PL. Please!' I just pasted the questions, as I have been asking them for ages! Also, why not answering about the surcharge, over 120%!

@ Alex Ellul: So lets start with the insinuations: 1) The university no of people who used to graduate and who graduate now 2) You were not given housing during 'the dar years' since they were given to the 'red followers only' 3) MCAST better than Fellenberg and the trade schools (Hilarious!) 4) Air Malta and Sea Malta were an economical burden. Need I say more? The only thing you got stuck to was the 65% tax, which you claim to have copies of. Then you pretend that I make public my address in here to give me your 'facts'. Calling me names such as Pure Socialist just because I differ from your opinion is the icing on the cake. Just shows how people like you do not accept critisizm but think that they are gods and only they are right. Also you failed to mention the surcharge we pay today, which is 120%, mind you! And this is paid by EVERYONE Mr Ellul!

@Mark Anthony Azzopardi: Mentioning Einstein and his splitting the atom in German was more or less just an example for making my point: that one does not need to be so adept in the English Language to study science and other non English language-based knowledge. You even agreed with me that spelling is not so important after all. What really is important, in my opinion, is what is our Alma Mater actually producing. The proof of the pudding, permit me to repeat, is in the eating. Maltese professionals excel in their profession. You may be seeing immature kids entering Engineering courses, which is, I am told, one of the most demanding, timewise and intelligence wise, university courses. These students may be graduating at an age when you may still consider them relatively immature, but when they go out into the field, they mature quickly. I ve seen these professionals going through their first rooky years and most of them fly. Some do flop and end up doing jobs other than their real profession, the one they studied for. But the actual result is, ccording to what I see out there, very good indeed.

@A Galea: Can you write down, clearly, quoting word for word, what is the insinuation I made? As for facts I have asked you to give me an address where I can send you a photocopy of my Income Tax returns from the dark ages. You did not even mention this fact. I asked you if you believe that a spouse's wage was added to the husband's and taxed at the highest bracket, you did not mention this either, but instead, like a pure socialist you accuse me of being rich. I am just a hard working wage earner, with a university degree. I assure you that I am no capitalist pig, in fact I have dearly suffered financially as an employee of capitalists during socialist governments, which is, purely and truely a past Maltese paradox. At least today, though my sufferance from the capitalists is more or less the same, my sufferance due to the Gov is at a much lower level then yester years.
@AZammit: Can you list all your questions that according to you I failed to answer, so that I am sure what you are requesting? I will do my best to answer them.

And for the record Mr Ellul, I made no insinuations like you, I just asked to show me facts, a thing you fail to do. Only by showing once, means you used to evade tax. Facts Mr Ellul, facts! And please, read ALL the post, not quoting the small piece you like!

Mr Ellul, with all your 'facts' you are still failing to answer my questions. I repeated ad nauseam, but you are also trying to ignore me. Also, one can easily distort documents. As you are distorting facts. So if you have the meat, spill them out mr Ellul.

@ Alex Ellul: As I told you. You are a high earner and pretend that others pay for you, as it is now. Is that not clear? You can check for yourself, but of course it does not suit you. It is you that accept that the sun rises Mr Ellul. But as usual, you try to take it out from you and put it from others. See ALL the posts below between you, me and A Zammit and THEN, decide if you DID answer and have all proof. Maybe you are not able to see the posts as they are? Maybe all the brainwashing did you so bad? Who knows?

@A Galea: Where can I send you a photocopy of my tax return from the dark ages? Can you give me some kind of address? Or otherwise you may visit the archives of the Inland Revenue Dept. I had given you many other figures on student graduates etc etc. I got no proof of your unproven rebuttals. maybe you will even try to rebut my claim that a spouse's wages were considered as one wage together with the husband's, so that the spouse's wage was taxed at the highest bracket possible. Go on, try to rebut this one too and you may just as well refuse to accept that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

Mr Ellul, I find it amusing that you still mention the 65% without showing facts. I find it amusing that from all my whole post, you only talked about the 65%. That just shows that you already lost your cause. Facts Mr Ellul, THEN talk.

Dear Mr.Ellul,

I'm sorry to have to contradict you once more... Einstein never split any atom, and Einstein was very fluent in English despite being German and never learning it formally. He only had trouble writing English because of what he called "treacherous" spelling.

But that's not what I'm referring to. Spelling doesn't worry me much. Today, a spell checker does the trick nicely. The problem with our students is that many are outright incapable of expressing a simple logical argument in ANY language... let alone English! Moreover, if these students are having a hard time with a damn language they've been studying since *AGE-5*, I shudder to think what will become of them when they have to digest Maxwell's Laws or Computational Fluid Dynamics in a semester!

I invite you to come over to University to attest with your own eyes the dire situation we have to put up with each year. This October I will again see a cohort of 240 fresh students (ICT+ENG) gradually decimated to about a 120 by the end of the year. Upon graduating, only 10 to 15 of these, truly deserve to be called engineers. We are wasting our most precious resource: People!

@Marc Anthony Azzopardi: While we should seek quality always and everywhere, I cannot agree with your statement that our educational system is not delivering. Our professionals are of the grade with some being top-notch. Now I do not know if this is because of our educational system or in spite of it. But considering the quality of our professionals, I would say its the former. Finally, regarding the English proficiency of our students, I must agree with this, but then, Einstein split the atom without knowing one word in English. We are Maltese, and English is a means of educating ourselves. Speaking and writing perfect English must not be considered as the basic requirement to learn science and other subjects not dependent on the English Language. Otherwise only Englishmen would make the grade. Repeat :

@Alex Ellul, I would be downgrading my own qualifications:

IF I graduate engineers who faint at the mere thought of mathematics-or-electronics!
IF I applaud students with scattered minds and who persistently refuse to think!
IF I allow students who can barely write in english to graduate with an equivalent degree;
IF I accept that students graduate with the same degree after just 3-years of thinner training;
IF I debase the very foundations of the profession by turning a blind eye to incompetence.

So dear Mr Ellul, on the contrary! My aim is to push this country's prospects higher by reassigning value to the word "QUALITY"!

There's nothing instrinsically wrong with Maltese people. It is just that MOST are being very poorly prepared to face an ever more complex world. Of course there are Maltese people who are successfull locally and overseas BUT they are TOO FEW and far between. The VAST majority are ill prepared to handle the modern world and my problem is that this is getting WORSE-not-better!

The educational system is not delivering. Certainly not to my expectations! And there is a *very* marked trend towards lower quality. So I appeal to those who can improve matters!

@A Galea: You asked me: " Also, why not substance the 65% claim'. Well. i checked my records, and I can confirm this. Not only, I also noted that my wife's pay was added to my pay and taxed as one person. So My wife's wages were taxed at 65%, then add some 8% national insurance, making my wife's wages being taxed at a total, effective 73%. Then add to that the high import taxes and levies we were forced to pay on our purchases, and hey presto, all that wage dissapeared down the Government financial sewers. In an other comment you said that my posts make you laugh. Well I 'm glad about that. You see, yours made me cry especially when I had to go through my income tax records to check the rates ,remebering all the monies the MLP government robbed me of. However I also thus checked the quality of my grey memory cells, which, I m happy to say, are still there.

@Marc Anthony Azzopardi: Are you yourself a product of the Maltese education system? Did you graduate from the University of Malta? If yes, wouldn't you be downgrading yourself and your qualifications?

While obviously we have defects in the system, the product is, I would say, very good. Consider the successes of our graduates who find pastures overseas. Many are successful, compete well with foreign professionals and most of the time make us proud. This holds true for many professions including medical, legal, engineering, architecture, IT, etc etc.

@ Max Bartolo

QUOTE "However, be assured that most Maths and Physics A Level students don't make it through these sixth forms (most notably JC) at all, and those who do, find it extremely hard to cope with the engineering course (Mechanical) and the vast majority of these end up dropping out by 1st year" UNQUOTE

WHICH IS A GREAT PITY!

The only resource in this country is the human capital... If we can't even ensure to make the most of our only resource, then we will be facing a very bleak future indeed. Given the political hype and the money we keep throwing at the educational sector, I am still very disappointed at the outcome. The system sorely needs a cataclysmic shakedown and the installation of REAL accountability throughout, before we can ever hope to become any centre of excellence in this regard.

In the meantime it is only the top 0.5% that make it to world-class level (in spite of the system!) and I don't think that's even close to being enough in a knowledge-based economy!

@ Marc Anthony Azzopardi

I agree with you completely that high standards must be maintained and I also agree that the quality of some sixth forms is lacking. However, be assured that most Maths and Physics A Level students don't make it through these sixth forms (most notably JC) at all, and those who do, find it extremely hard to cope with the engineering course (Mechanical) and the vast majority of these end up dropping out by 1st year. Those who are allowed into University with the MCAST qualifications experience the same problems.

I also do not feel that the change to 3 years was unwise. The quality of the students entering University remains unchanged while the quality of those leaving relies entirely on the quality of education received at University. I can assure you, however, that this quality is not all that much better than those you mentioned. If the quality of graduating engineers is to be improved in this country, a better quality of education at University is definitely in order.

Many of the students making it into the MechEng course have the potential to become engineers of the topmost level.

Part 3/3

And thirdly, Primary-schools, Secondary-Schools and Sixth-Forms should put their house in order to deliver some sorely needed quality. Year on year we have to deal with the rubbish that these produce. Unfortunately, the University receives half baked 18 year olds who find it hard to change their rotten ways. Despite public expectation we cannot make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

If these problems are addressed as they should, then in a few short years we will see our economy surge, our environment flourish, our standard of living increase and hopefully LESS FREQUENT BLACKOUTS!

This is a national problem which can only have a political solution.
So please, politicians: Kindly deal with it!

I WILL REPEAT AD NAUSEUM! GARBAGE IN => GARBAGE OUT!

Part 2/3

While it is true that no system is 100% infallible, this cascade shutdown of the entire country's power supply is becoming a bit too frequent for peace of mind. YES, it is an imperfect system designed by imperfect human beings but its reliability is a direct function of the knowledge, training, motivation and equipage of the workforce.

What I mean to say is that while engineers are not expected to be perfect, society puts HUGE expectations on their shoulders. If we really want them to deliver to these stratospherically high degrees, then the country must uphold their plight for maintaining the high standards.

More specifically: I believe that undermining the Engineering Degree with fast-turn-around 3-year courses was not a wise move forward.

Secondly, vocational schools should stick to what they know best: ie: vocational training! Students with a couple of scant O-levels (if any!) or Sixth Form dropouts may not be the ideal feedstock for the engineering profession. It usually takes a bit more than that. Misclassified, highly motivated students should find their way to the University anyway.

@Max_Bartolo
It's precisely because I'm an engineer that I can appreciate the sheer complexity of Enemalta. But it's precisely because I'm also an engineering educator that I see the writing on the wall. We MUST uphold high standards.

@Mark_Galea
My comment is equally applicable to any kind of engineer. Dubiously qualified engineers can wreck havoc in any sector.

@Alex_Ellul
The problem with University is that Garbage-in=Garbage-out. Problems start very early in the educational system. Secondly, the University is not the only institution that produces Engineers. Other institutions with dubious track records are aspiring to produce "Engineers". These "engineers" might eventually be running Enemalta...or worse! God forbid!

@Mario_Nicchia
You misinterpret my comment. Read it again! There are many brilliant engineers around.. But OVERALL, quality is on a steady decline and the reason is short sighted politics. I don't need to convince you, the people who matter know it.

This has NOTHING to do with spare capacity! It has EVERTHING to do with RELIABILITY of a supposedly duplex or triplex redundant system that should be DESIGNED to NEARLY NEVER-FAIL-CATASTROPHICALLY. My point is that things WILL GET WORSE as the quality of our graduates declines. Quantity will NEVER make up for quality.

@ Alex Ellul: What answers did you provide me? What about calling me a daydreamer? Or that is not an insult? Maybe I am not entitled to defend myself after all? Or you don't have the meat to confront the questions I made you? If you still want to continue to talk about the past, even though I am more of a person who looks at the present and future, I will be happy to continue, and also show you points where your party is really trying to hide the truth, and not saying as you did, that we last won the election on 76, since the LP never denied it. On the contrary, the PL tried to show what happened between 96 to 98 and show how the PN continued to steal elections, especially the last one. But I am the dreamer and not you!

@ Alex Ellul: The posts are there for all to see. When A Zammit asked you questions, you tried to deviate by telling him he was in a 'daydream'. Or you forgot what you wrote? Also, why not substance the 65% claim? (Unless you of course are not a man who is on the rich side and would like not to pay, but happy to see the medium class to pay for rich people as it is happening now) Also, see how students at MCAST are being treated, and see how far they are going, without even practice but only theory. When you say something, try to REALLY answer and not making more claims, insulting people's intelligence and try to run away from the argument. And yes I DID see all your posts, and if you want I will paste them for you to see what you wrote, since you seem to forget what you actually wrote, or else which is more likely, playing defensively. Also, when you say you don't care who runs this place is a lie, since you seem too dependant on your party.

@Pat Muscat: I never said that Dr. Muscat is a bogeyman. Read again. In fact I said that Dr. Muscat has a good chance of being Malta's next PM and I am not worried by him. What Im worried about is that some of his followers would want him to take back the party to the past, otherwise....At least there are two of these boys here who seem to be so happy about the years when I was taxed at 65% on my salary and 120% on some of my purchases, when entering university was a nightmare, etc only they don't want to admit it. That's my worry. Otherwise I do not care who happens to runs this place. Malta is in the EU, we have the Euro, we have water in our taps, electricity in our cables(oops, not always, it fails about once every decade), spring hunting is practically off, while the new LP guys seem to have learned a lot from their opponents, after their 40 odd years in the political desert, so to speak.. So what is there to fear?

@A Galea. Should you read all comments you will realise that I did provide answers to Mr.A.Zammit. All I got from him, now from you, were insults such as "people like you"; "brainwashed" etc. Such words are not found in my comments because I feel that commentators who resort to insults lack meat. May I now ask you some questions? How many students graduated from univerdity in October 1985? How many students graduated from University in October 2008/ How many students got certified from Fellenberg in 1986 and how many students got certified from MCAST in 2008. What is the maximum rate of income tax today and what was the maximum rate of Income Tax in 1986? What was the maximum import duty in 1996 and what is it now? Now you can call me brainwashed as much as you want, but unless you answer these questions truthfully, all your comments are worthless. You should seriously note that the MLP/PN won its last general elections in 1976, if, as the MLP tried to make us do, we forget the 1996 election. This fact alone says a lot on the Maltese people's opinion on our political parties.

@ Marc Anthony Azzopardi

Are you an engineer?

If so, why don't you go help out at Enemalta? I'm sure it would be an extremely simple task to solve all their problems..

If not, why don't you attempt to graduate as an Engineer from the University of Malta? Once you succeed, if your views remain unaltered, then your opinion on this matter would at least have some value. If you fail, it would be proof that your claims are unfounded. And if you succeed, then go help out at Enemalta..

Also please keep in mind that Enemalta is hugely dependent on government funding and has limited financial resources to hire the best engineers. However, I feel that the problem does not lie with the engineers or staff at Enemalta but with the outdated infrastructure and a lack of alternative power supply in case of emergency.

@ Alex Ellul: Seeing your posts make me laugh. First you call for figures and then when you are asked to answer for them, you just try and change argument, calling for A Zammit to answer questions when you yourself are never capable to answer.
Governments are there to serve the whole country and not some of tal qalba like your government does. Seeing on how you try to defend Gonzi, you must be one of them, thus talking about blackmails. It is people like you who ruin the country more than the governments in power Mr Ellul.

@ Alex Ellul: You call me of dreaming? First you come out with ridiculous statistics such as university used to have 100 or 120, and now 2000, and the income tax was 65%, then you fail to answer ALL my questions and you say that I am day dreaming? First you come dreaming that MCAST is better than Fellenberg, and you still call me a daydreamer. That is what you are doing, calling me a daydreamer when in reality the day dreamer and brainwashed is just you. And by the way, I am still waiting for an answer.You are true case of a man with his head on the sand.

Alex Ellul.
Doubt is not a pleasant position, but certainty about Josph Muscat as the bogey man is absurd!

@A Zammit:Should your answer have been a YES, then I would tell you that that is the reason why I would not trust your party in power; it’s not because I’m afraid of Dr. Muscat as PM but I would be afraid of Dr. Muscat PM of Malta, backed by you. Because you would blackmail him into doing what you personally need, just as it was way back during your dreamtime. Because you see, political party leaders are made out of the party grassroots. They are what the grassroots want them to be, not the other way round. The PN leader is what PN voters want him to be. PL leaders were (will be) what PL voters want them to be. Hence, once Dr. Muscat becomes Malta’s PM, which is a very likely possibility, he will be at the mercy of your expectations. Should your answer have been a NO, then all the defense and apologia for your dreamtime would all fall flat on their face.

@ Alex Ellul: You are waiting for my answers when you are not capable of answering mine? Answer me those and then I will give you an answer on it.

@Marc Anthony Azzopardi: You have made some very serious sweeping statements and accusations towards the Maltese engineering profession and related faculty at the University. Can you support these with solid proof? As far as I know, Maltese Engineers have made quite a good name in local and foreign industry, some even excelling in their profession, making us proud.

@MarcAnthonyAzzopardi

You're throwing mud on Enemalta employees when in my opinion they need to be praised instead.

You know best that you are not in a position to make these absurd assumptions.Please note that from the first trip to a total shut down usually is just a matter of few seconds.Do you know how many times with the prompt intervention of Enemalta employees such a scenario was avoided?

Do u know that the true meaning of security of supply? It is defined as having spare capacity equal to the largest plant on grid. Do you know why?-Because failures are part of the game.

Did you question yourself why we do not have this spare capacity?-Is it because of the employees or because of lack of national policy in this regard?

I would be more prudent before pointing fingers.I've seen giants in_European_Engineering crying like babies infront of this situation and surprinsgly enough in Malta, according to enemalta's statements, the load in the power stations was restored after just half an hour.
tell it in European eng. corridors. (as they know what it involves starting up from nothing in hand) -they would pay to know how did they manage to do that!

@Marc Anthony Azzopardi
When you refer to engineers are you referring to:
1) Electrical Engineers
2) Mechanical Engineers
3) IT (Software) Engineers ?

Can you be more specific please?

@A Zammit: You ask me: "65% Tax? What tax and when?". Answer: What tax: 65% Income Tax, that's what; when? During your dream-time, if you were already born and working hard. If you weren't working hard, then you wouldn't know about the 5% to 65% tax regime applied by Mr. Mintoff would you. You have been trying to ridicule history, but you are not managing. May I ask you one final question: Do you actually wish that we start living again Mr. Mintoff's politics and policies? Please answer with a straight YES or NO. Should you refrain from answering I will answer you for both options. I'm waiting.

@ Ivan Mizzi: While I agree with the points raised, I would like to remind you that there is a difference with having power cuts because of natural causes and having power cuts because a government failed to address the rising need of electricity.

PART 3/3
BUT YES! THIS ACCIDENT WAS ENTIRELY AVOIDABLE! (or at least, greatly mitigated!)

There will an investigation and the outcome will be that it was due to some individual or collective human error: Lack-of-knowledge, Lack-of-maintenance, Lack-of-resources, Lack-of-planning, Lack-of-testing etc... The usual!

Reliability is a sophisticated science and the Enemalta guys know that! It is the politicians who sometimes don’t seem to appreciate it! Certainly, the odds of this happening would have been far fewer, had we SERIOUSLY invested in the KNOWLEDGE, MOTIVATION and EQUIPPAGE of our engineering workforce.

PART 2/3
Some of our half-baked students who are making it through the filters of our educational system by exploiting its many faults may eventually be at the root of such accidents! In the short term, some may be able to fool employers with their dubious qualifications of little substance... The politicians love numbers, big numbers. So we’re produce graduates at six pence to the dozen! But at the expense of quality! Lecturers are even asked to turn a blind eye to allow struggling students through the system, to boost statistics!

Yet, in the end YOU-WILL-NEVER-FOOL-THE-LAWS-OF-NATURE. If you adopt this perilous route, nature will come back to bite you with a vengeance. If you’re incompetent you WILL FAIL eventually. It will be a very sad day when people have to die and business folds as a result of this.

I firmly believe that there exists no other profession that bears such limitless responsibility as does the engineering profession. It is one darn hard job that leaves you sleepless until you get things right! Put yourself in the shoes of Ing. Alex Tranter – How does that kind of responsibility feel?

PART 1/3
Such accidents, although unfortunate, highlight our HUGE dependency on genuine engineering skill. I like to see this as a much needed WAKE-UP CALL to *ALL* our Politicians and Administrators on both sides of Parliament! Times have changed. The degree of engineering skill required by a developed country is synonymous with the survivability and long term viability of that country.

We are only lucky if nobody was hurt and that there were no disastrous repercussions.

Any country's infrastructure, industry, health, transport, environment, finance, economy and indeed anything that matters depends on carefully engineered and properly maintained systems of incredible complexity. That ONLY comes through genuine dedication and a reward structure based on true MERITOCRACY!!!

This is NOT what I am witnessing EVERYDAY and I fear the worst for Malta, if this trend continues.

Mr Ivan Mizzi,

"My point was to prove that these things happen everywhere, in EU countries, "
Whichever the case, the problem stays the same.

"I am not making excuses, as I don't need to. I do not work for enemalta, nor the government, nor am I affiliated with any part. "
My point is, what you are saying is unrelated [to the issue at hand]. Whether Malta was a developing country or not, this [incident] should not have happened. As to your affiliations, I'm not the type of person to acuse anyone for favouring. Reasonable talk is all I ask.

"I get no satisfaction in ridiculing the country we live in, but some people seem to get off on it. Our lack of national pride is evident in everything."
First, truth hurts. Second, pride is also not related to this.

"I wish we didn't have a power outage. I hope we never, ever have an other one. "
Wrong! First, wishing won't fix anything at all. Secondly, not all systems out there are *so* fallible. With Enemalta's lack of coordination in wiring, I'd expect outages to be minimal. Yet, they're not.

Kind regards
Chris.

When will the penny drop and when will politically motivated commentators realize that Malta and Gozo were deprived of electric power for so many hours not because the Marsa power station supplies most of the electricity needs but because whenever any part of the system fails the rest is unaivalable to carry the extra load they automatically trip off to prevent damage to those still functioning?

A simple question. Would not the millions of euros being spent on the installation of smart meters be better utilised to augment the electricity generating capacity of Enemalta and to replace outdated equipment?

I only asked!

Mr Christian V. Sciberras

My point was to prove that these things happen everywhere, in EU countries, Scandinavian Countries, nuclear-powered countries such as USA and Russia, and NOT ONLY IN MALTA.

I am not making excuses, as I don't need to. I do not work for enemalta, nor the government, nor am I affiliated with any part. Neither am I wagging my tail that we had to suffer an outage. And yes, by all means, let's strive for perfection. But for goodness sake, stop it with this "only in Malta", and "third world country" crap. We are part of the world, and power outage is part of the world. Let's keep things in perspective and not go melo-dramatic over everything.

I get no satisfaction in ridiculing the country we live in, but some people seem to get off on it. Our lack of national pride is evident in everything.

I wish we didn't have a power outage. I hope we never, ever have an other one. But we might have another one, as might every other country in the world. And they will not become a third world country when it happens. Neither will we.

Mr Ivan Mizzi,

I don't think that comparing Malta's situation with a worse one elsewhere is at all appropriate.

Maybe the Maltese should *strive for perfection*? Rather then being satisfied with what works?

Is it just me, or is it that the Maltese often find excuses for their unsatisfactory results?

Kind regards,
Christian Sciberras.

To all the people that have never left this tiny island, and think that these things HAPPEN ONLY IN MALTA, I invite them to have a look at this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_power_outages

"On January 27, 2009, an ice storm hit Kentucky knocking out power to about 769,000.[45] As of February 15th about 12,000 were still without power from this storm.[46]"

Only in Malta and Afganistan? I think not. Not 10 hours, but 19 days without power in the good old, all powerful, super nation of USA. And in 2009.

Seriously, get a life.

It looks to me that it will take more than a one-day BLACK OUT to wake up the MALTESE mass of people who are so deep asleep shielding their partisan feelings!

We became so reliant on this electric energy, our minds just stopped thinking and being CREATIVE! Except to think with narrow minds in a political way that is!

Has anyone seen how traffic goes chaotic and dangerous through major intersections like tal-Barrani Road and Marsa? And how come we ended up sending employees home? At home, almost everything works with electric power except the bed!

So looking at whoever is running the country will not solve the issue! We need our human brains to become creative and find alternative sources of energy. Time to stop looking for answers from politicians. I am sure we would outsmart them if the people get together and educate themselves smart enough to pursue what they really want!

@ p. mifsud: Because the dellimara power station was a success! So successful it was, that we still need the 'cheap' Marsa power station. But maybe you stayed everyday without electricity because you forgot to switch on the light. Muppets

@ Alex Ellul: 65% Tax? What tax and when? Do you know that we pay today over 120 % Surcharge? Or still living in Disneyland? How about talking the leave, sick leave, bonus and all the social benefits we received and your government almost took out? Also, how about answering my points? Or still unsure about them? Start live in reality, then talk Mr Ellul.

Yes I would have agreed with Mifsud if I havenet lived in the 80's. I think Mifsud is short of memory because 1.st tehre where power failures in the 80's but occasionally however with 1 power station that of Marsa only and 2nd'ly the Delimara power station with all the millions we have had to pay from our tax had to replace the Marsa power station mela you do not remember more recent events. As things stand the Marsa power station is still functional today and a fault will bring Malta powerless.

Hmmmm. I have a huge electricity bill pending. Perhaps I should tot up the contents of my freezer that I've had to chuck and knock it off my bill?...... Think I can pull it off?! :)

Nowadays we are in 2009 not in the 80's my friends! so at least now in the future when we again have powercuts we would think... "Oh it looks like we are back to 2009"

I can't believe how this incident was taken very little seriously.

Apart *idiots* blaming different parties (as such idiots would usually do), there is very little focus on the main point.

People don't realize, without power most services simply shut down. Sure enough, we experienced this for a few hours, yet imagine what would have happened if such a fault would have taken *days* to repair. Generators, backups, etc can't go on forever!

Hear my words, stop *fooling around with politics* and *get the job done*. Focus on the country's infrastructure and the *real* problems.

What's Malta's defense against potential terrorist attacks? It takes WAY more then that to stop power plants in other nations, why is Malta's so little guarded?

Why is it that NO ONE thinks about the REAL problems?

Are we [Maltese] so hopelessly lost in the past?

Every time you'd want to start a new argument about politics, stop and think about what I've said.

Kind regards,
Christian Sciberras.

Now lets see how much memory you all have left .....does anybody recall the the terrible black days during the 80'. We were not the the dark for just 11 hours but try totally up the amount of hours we were in total darkeness each and every day!!! and by the way, the Marsa Power station happened to be purchased during the labour administration (obviously by Mintoff for free) and one cannot expect if to last of prouduce forever....minn jixtri b'irhis jixtri b'ghali !!! This is the difference between our GonziPN and others !!!! have a bright day to everyone !

@A Zammit; And how about the 65% tax we used to pay during your Mintoff/KMB times? and may I add the 120% import duties on many items?

" IN OFFICE, BUT WITHOUT POWER"
........LIKE GONZIPN

These things happen and explanations are due. What made me really angry was the inability to get through to Enemalta for indications about how long the power cut was expected to last.

Given the bills we are paying, Enemalta can certainly afford a few more phone lines, a few more operators and some recorded messages!

We were LEFT IN THE DARK FOR A WHOLE DAY - literally and figuratively.

Welcome to Afghanistan. Such powercuts only occur there.

@ Alex Ellul: If people like you did think about voting PL, then I am the king of Spain. Again you failed to tell me where you got the figures. Again you failed to see who got housing, with the sorry excuse that you did not get it, if it is true. Fellenberg was more capable than MCAST, and I need not show you why, seeing the sorry state MCAST is today. Also, you failed to mention the closing of the trade schools. Regarding your 'points': Air Malta: The famous 'ghasfur tac comb ma jtirx'. The payments we have to pay today, for it AND Sea Malta, was because this incompetent government, with his 'money no problem' attitude, just put Malta with the deficit we have today, so nothing became sustainable thanks to it. Regarding the Dellimara Powerstation, KMB wanted more small power stations around Malta, which today it proved he was right. He was NOT against a new powerstation, he just wanted more sustainability. But as usual, the PN media changed his speech like it did to past (and the present) leaders of PL. And brainwashed people think of voting PL. Please!

@mark galea no one is doing any bets and i dont think its the time to bet.the road is long and time is precious but mr galea 35,000 votes means something right?seems you live in the past and doesnt want to acknowledge the present situation here in malta.............ohhhhhhhhh i see the excuse the recession and i may remind you that gonzipn said "since everyone is having a recession here in malta we have everything under control" sure dr gonzi as you say!!!!

Well then, just like Enemalta and the ever-so Honourable Dr. Austin Gatt, I will apologize when I do not pay my next Enemalta bill on time.

I wonder whether the government and the corporation will be as forgiving...

Welcome to GAZA ! The arrogance and incompetance of GonziPN is incredible. An other fracas, an other lie, and an other excuse! EU prices for Third world services! Posi, u kurdicelli galore !

Mark Galea
Don't bet too much on it Mark.

Graham Crocker
Who told you that they are doing so?
Do you think that they can afford it with the electricity tariffs imposed by Agostino Pio?
And even if this is so, remember Eddie Fenech Adami saying that women were going out to work to have air conditioners?
And if the use of AC is enough to trip the supply to all Malta, don't you think that the Government didn't get its figures right about consumption?
It's amazing how low can pn apologists go to defend the indefensible.

Alex Ellul You voting Labour? I believe that as Our Lord had said, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for you to vote Labour.

S. Camilleri The connection to the European power grid will only supply 100MW so if we have a total shutdown like we had yesterday it will also trip to prevent damage to the cable.

P. Schembri Iz-zmien l-akbar ghalliem u min ghadda z-zmien b'KMB issa jaf kemm kellu ragun.

A. Sultana The Maltese are a rich race? You must be joking. Maybe a selected few.

@All
To achieve full energy indipendence we need to have many hamsters running on wheels to generate the necessary energy. It would also provide food and fur. Also they are fully bio-degradable, so they do not harm the environment.

I blame the Government and mepa for this you know why? Well because of the uncontrollable permits given for these jungle concrete buildings. Has anyone in power considered if our power and drainage will support this. What happened yesterday was the cherry on the cake! At the Sliema sea front there was an intollerable drainage smell, in the street its becoming quite common for sewage overflows. Does anyone try to think about the huge consequenses these construction will have on our energy and sewage systems?

i guess the government is sinking faster than titanic,for the rock we live on,having 2 power stations i cant believe,the island was without power for god knows how long.i felt i was living in a modern malta.its time these people with power start to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty.and start looking for alternative ways of creating electricity instead shamfully wasting our taxes,our island is a gem,but the standard it is get to is apalling.i guess some tourists will see yesterday as an adventure,back to the flintstones:

Gentlemen,

when maltese citizens are paying prices that are 10 years ahead for services and infrastructures that are 30 years behind, one has the right to complain!!!

The politicians always cry EU but where are the EU standards in Malta? in the roads, salaries, environment, value for money, services and now even the power cuts? we are since years in the EU and the only thing that increased, even beyond EU standard, are the prices and cost of living.

Malta has reached a point of "little to live on and a lot to die for". There is no worse EU country like in Malta. We could compete with Bulgaria but I believe we have also overtaken them.

After 10 hours without electricity in the entire country (never heard of, not even in war ridden countries), enemalta can only come up with an apology. I hope now when we fail to pay our electricity bills in time, they will also accept our apologies too and not cut the electricity supply on the spot.

@A Zammit: So we had Fellenberg? That was because te MCAST was shut down. Regarding free housing: I think I know better than you do. Because i did try to get gree housing, but instead I got taxed o that others cold get free housing. Universty: I aolgise, I was wrong, today 2000 graduate not 1000, and duriong your dreamtime, 120 graduated not 100. Sorry for my mistake. How about answering me on all the other points I raised? Go on, try it. Sometimes I try to think about voting PL, but when i see comments like yours I get the jitters and back away, you know, like when a vegeterian thinks about eating beef...

Some comments may be indeed witty and funny but not for the people like myself who have indeed lost a couple of thousand euros in today's power failure. The loss is a result of lost goods (not suitable for sale if your conscience does not allow it) such as cakes and ice-creams rather than due to lack of customers during the black-out.
Incidentally, just for the record, my outlet (and neighbours) sustained no less than 3 power failures within the first 8 days of last month. Short ones luckily. This was the cherry on the cake.
This time round, Mosta was one of the last places to see the light. The result was disastrous. Irrespective of what happened 30 years ago, today we are part of the EU, the institution which should safeguard its people. We will now wait to see what reimbursment there will be for my loses and those of many businesses which employ most of you. Is there a surveyor we can call?? Yes someone at the top should take responsibility just as they take credit for the work of others. This is normal in civilized countries. But ofcourse nobody will. Shame.

Finally online after 10 power-less hours. Pity I had an assignment to work on and an exam tomorrow to study for..that's 10 precious hours lost. But worse for those who lost thousands of €uro due to the power-cut. I hope in vain for a type of compensation. Nothing? Oh well...looks like were in Malta. Maybe Gonzi heard the people and took action to reduce the electicity bill...hmm...

Many years ago I wrote the following in an official report on insecurities in Malta:-

This overview of insecurities contributing to the inefficiencies of powerstations is an indicator of what may occur if one allocates different variations in the weighting , financial and commercial, technological and maintenance issues, and welfare and compensation of personnel. The whole system becomes a complex, interconnection between management styles and operational personnel, technology and finances. If one pulls too much in one direction the whole system would react by aiming to reach another state. All possible states are unstable due to internal and external unknown factors and the whole system oscillates continuously through periods with one state winning for a short time where the losing states would quickly offer their reaction to gain a better deal.

About respect for engineers may I just say that in the British Royal Navy when they changed from sail to steam, the engineer wasnot allowed to dine withthe captain and deck officers.

In Malta it is just not worth it giving service as an engineer. Goverments give a better deal to administrative staff and social workers and forgets about the true value of engineers and their products.

What is really scary is that if the power cut lasted for 2 days then we would run out of water !!!!
food for thought.....

Well I' certainly not a PN apologist much less an Austin Gatt fan. However whilst sympathising with people who suffered actual damage due to spoilt frozen produce etc, I cannot understand all this whining... So there was a major problem. These things happen and there are today ways to mitigate these problems. UPSs and Generators are not something out of this world.
Did any whinger invest in a contingency setup?.Those who did reaped the benefit of their foresight.

Unfortunately, we are a very small country and until we are connected to a proper grid we will remain susceptible to the whims of any single turbine or generator. Even then... I am sure people remember the recent grid meltdown in Europe, where a fault on a single high tension cable between Switzerland and Italy effected large parts of the continent.

@Galea. L
if you are waiting for next election, then it will be a very long wait for you ...
and then, i do not suggest you make bets ... (like those in March 2008 election) :)

We are not at war, we had no major natural disaster, so what happened today is TOTALLY unacceptable...........I am sure many people are down right mad espesially in the Sliema area which were nearly 11 hrs without electricity, except for a short 15 minute interval..............

Air conditioners suck especially when poor people use it and then complain that they can't feed their family.

@R.Gatt. This is a barefaced lie perpetrated by the PN. KMB wanted to have small power stations on parts of Malta, just because of what would happen like the situation we're in! But of course, as the PN always says that the PL never proposes, they have the almighty right to do as they please. Looks like that KMB was right after all!

A. Sultana
You must be joking. Do you think that the vast majority of the Maltese people can afford AC?

Alexander Morana
We are posting because the power had come on again after more than 4 hours, but then it went off for another 3 hours. If for you telling the truth is moaning for us it's not.

Karl Abela You are wrong Karl. I am criticizing the government because it promised a lot but delivered nothing.

Mark Galea You refer to the past because you only try to excuse everything this government does. As for 1996, you got your answer this last fortnight. Just wait for the next general election.

Comment to Mr A Sultana:

No, failures do not occur globally as you say. They occur in 3rd world countries. I have been living in the UK since 1976 (33 years) and I only experienced 2 power failures in all this period. Instead of drawing comparisons to the past is it too much to ask that a modern society is guaranteed regular uninterrupted energy supplies?

I have calculated that this outage cost the country 4,000, 000 (yes 4 million) euro on the following assumptions: 100,000 people affected for 4 hours average each = 400,000 man hours @ 10 euro per hour lost labour time = 4 million euro.

Do global calculations every time there is a national impediment to productivity. This applies to electricity cut-outs, traffic jams, etc. All these things aren't just an inconvenience they are NATIONAL ISSUES affecting our productivity. The sooner the politicians stop blabbing about treating this with fatalistic incompetence as if these things are God-made and unavoidable (they are not: they are MAN-MADE), the sooner we will be better off.

@ Alexander Morana

Moaning is one thing and posting is another.. to be able to do them both you have to have a mean and a reason -

The reason - Electricity out for over 7 hrs ( welcome to malta )
The mean - Generators Alexander.. generators.

and oh yes!!! my ice-cream melted so I'll be suing Enemalta for it ;)

If you lot don't have electric power than how come you are all here posting and moaning?
Anyone's ice-cream melted yet?

Galea L. - Failures occur globally. And If you are one of those who argues that it is an expensive commodity to have ac today with the current electricity prices then I must say the Maltese people are a rich race.

To everyone else who think they can solve the problem - Instead of commenting here (uselessly) why don't you go and give your valued consultancy to Enemalta of what they should do in order to get the power up again?

@ Alex Ellul:
'Plots and loans were given to the red followers only': Why don't you go and check out, and to your surprise you will find that nationalists DID benefit from such loans as well! Just go in places like Dingli and Zurrieq and you will find out.
'The MCAST was shut down': Another lie. We had Fellenberg, who supplied the best we have in the business. Now we have MCAST, and one cannot say that it is the same as Fellenberg was. Also you seem to fail to mention the close up of the trade schools!
'The University nearly so, with 100 graduates a year': Just show me where the statistics come from! It is strange since we had so many people who were even recognised outside of malta in that time!
Seems to me that you are either living in Disneyland from the 70s till today or else your head is full of sand, being that you were always with your head in the sand!

It is a good thing this summer so far (well has not even started) the temperatures are not high by Malta's standards. I would have done my nuts Austin if the temperature was over 30c! But 27c is a reasonable temperature at this time of the year.
I hope we learn the cause of this disruption.

L Galea,

I do not know you personally, but your comments show a mentality which typically belongs to hardcore labour supporters in the age bracket of 60 - 75 years of age....which really is not a problem to me...however you ought to know that your line of thinking is not fashionable anymore.

You really need to try and be less extreme towards Labour. Even if it rains during summer, you need to blame it on the pn government.

True, the painful defeat of last years general election is still fresh in mind, I understand, but surely by now you should be used to putting general election defeats behind you.

If you love your country please try and be a bit more positive at least about the good things.

Surprise, surprise, no electricity again. Thank goodness for generators!

...and our alarm system informed us that, once again, the power has gone. I figured that out already, because the lights went out, came on again with the generator, but that unfortunately doesn't handle the air conditioner.

Oh well. The supermarket will be pleased that we'll have to throw away the contents of our fridge/freezer.

@Galea. L
We refer to the past so as not to make the same mistakes again (eg the misktake in the 1996 election, which was corrected some months later)

@ J Martinelli

The lights went out again. Could you for once keep your 2 cents to yourself? Its bad enough we are all suffering in this heat. We do not not backseat critics, adding salt to wounds. If you are so happy with the state of affairs in Malta, come back and tough it up with the rest of us.

J Hughes
Comments made to Sandro Galea, Dr. Noel Calleja apply to you.

M. Piscopo
Air conditioners? With the price of electricity only the rich can now afford them Piscopo

David Busuttil, Alex Ellul
If I remember correctly the proposed cable to Sicily is to be rated at 100Mw which is what is generated by one turbine. So those of you who think that the Sicily cable will be a panacea to our electricity problems can forget it.

To all the pn apologists, we are supposed to be an eu country not a third world country. Simply referring to the past to defend the government shows that you have no valid arguments for the precarious electricity situation we are in.

@ A Abela

Firstly we are working in Euro now and not in liri and you have not actually lost it, you simply didnt earn it, so I doubt anyone is going to give you anything.
Second, why did you have to close your shop just because the power went out for a few hours?

to J.Abela,
it was nice to read you left your office and relax by the swimming pool with a cool beer, but you did not mention wheater you took your employees with you or not,or maybe sending them home....lol

hope everything was ok in the biggest electric guzzler on the island that is mater dei.hope generators set in(ghax it traskuragni xi haga tal ghageb)

@ R Gatt: About time on the extension. And oh, we are going to use an old technology. Also, if you are a partit of iva and always the 'good' side, tell me, was the Marsa powerstation not supposed to be closed once this new Dellimara powerstation took over? And maybe the protest done by labour were because of the natural impact such powerstation would have (which in fact had) rather than the powerstation itself was the reason? And maybe, since this is not the first time that ALL malta is without electricity, is it because the powerstation was not powerful enough when done? It seem you forget that even during the first years of PN, even after the power station was done, we still had problems with electricity and water. But since PN was in office, there was no need to protest! Muppets

Sandro Galea, Dr. Noel Calleja
Dark ages of the eighties? When everyone could make ends meet and have enough to save, when grandparents were rich enough not only to live on their pensions but also to give gifts to their grandchildren, when we had so many parastatal companies milking money into Malta's coffer?

Can the people know how if a generator drops out the rest of the generator also stop?
Why cannot non-essential areas be automatically cut off in such an event so that the load will be dropped and the other generators do not drop out?
Aircrafts are designed to fly on a single engine in case the other(s) stop and can even glide down for a certain distance to make a safe landing if possible.
Ships have not only the main generators, but also emergency generators that come on automatically if the main supply fails and also emergency batteries.
Granted ships and aircraft are not countries, but why is this always happening if a generator drops out?
Why do we have to wait four hours at least in my area for the electricity to come back?

Carmel Garcia Morna lura ghal zmien il-lampa u l-lampik.

Forget 20 and 30 years ago and stop living in the past, if we want a modern and continuous electrical supply we need to be connected to the European grid as a first step. Second step is to reduce demand by completely removing subsidies above a minimum of usage. having ACs running at 16 or 18 degrees is a complete waste of energy, and having an AC at all is a privilege the electricity for which should be paid at full price.

Regarding smart meters, these are currently a waste of money since recent study has shown even the most advanced of them to be completely riddled with security flaws. We're talking about a mini-internet of meters that can be hacked where hackers can turn off your electricity at will... or rig it so that they only show half the consumption to Enemalta. Enemalta should have far more urgent priorities

Stop moaning you lot. Just think of the money you saved. Thank you Austin.

@A Abela: thousands of liri for 2 hours' loss of electricity? if you were a good manager you'd get a generator. You would have recouped the cost in the last 2 hours!!!

@Philip Grech: Yes I can help you with memory: Plots and loans were given to the red followers only: The MCAST was shut down. The University nearly so, with 100 graduates a year. Today we have a 1000 or so graduating from University and another thousand from the new MCAST. Telemalta was the renaming of Cable and Wireless, Enemalta was the rehashing of the elctricity board and gas board etc, Air Malta and Sea Malta can be considered as a feather in the cap, but a at very uneconomical financial sacrifice, when we taxed at 65% of our wages to keep these and other red-dreams going. Well, if you need more memory neurons, I can help you even more. Such as when the MLP wanted to stop the building of the Delimara power station.. no to E.. no to Euro.. no to just any type of progress. That is why the MLP/LP has not won any elections since 1976. No, I have not forgot about the 1996 elections, its just that the MLP wants us to forget all about it.

@J Hughes

It is precisely in individuals like Mr Hughes that the present government finds refuge and excuses. No wonder there is so much political division. Unfortunately, there are many naiive and apologists like Mr Hughes that prefer to shove their heads in the sand and pretend that the Sun came up in 1987, and the nationalist Party liberated us from the Middle Ages.

It is a shame really that we have such individuals with amnesia, or so much BRAIN WASHED with the obsession that what had happened many years ago is shame/disaster/armageddon/blasphemous, but should anything (with all the bla bla and pomp) go wrong nowadays, nahhh...it's ok, dont blame it on Gonzi! ma tarax, dak u shabu x'jahtu jahasra?!
The electorate passed on a clear message, twice for that matter. However, Mr Hughes here does not believe that does he? He thinks the citizens are exagerating, making a fuss, how dare we protest? Keep at it my dear friend.

@Simon Dimech:
"Why does every issue in this country have to be turned into a political farce?"

Because we have nothing better to do. :)

Having said that, electricity supply has become a lot more reliable in the eight odd years I've been living here. But still, I wonder what happened to the contents of the freezer after 4.5 hours (minus some two minutes around noon) of no electricity.

A power cable to Sicily would probably be a good idea. Then we should just hope that (a) there aren't any earthquakes, like the one that damaged Go's cable and (b) there isn't a storm in the Alps, like the one that knocked over two power lines and cut electricity in practically all of Italy.

@ A Abela

What legitimate business are you in? You lost thousands of liri because of 4 hours power interruption? How much does that translate in 'income per hour'?

You make so much that you still calculate in Lira rather than euros?

I wonder how much of your thousands you declare on your income tax return!

You will hardly miss four hours revenue if you make so many thousands per hour eight hours a day times some 300 days a year.

Smart meters but Austinine generation

@ Martin Bugeja - You want somebody to take responsibility for the power cut. You must be too young to remember the 70ties and 80ties since we had these situations 2 and 3 times a week apart from water shortage. And we had no air conditioners then. Don't forget also that KMB did not want PN to build a power station in Delimara. Can you imagine if PN listened to KMB and his Partit Le followers when they protested. This is why an extension to the power station in Delimara is on it's way.

Simple question now that MY power's back. How were all of you commenting away without power? do you have solar powered PC's or something?? Give us a break !

@ Mr. Hughes
I have a short memory. Can you confirm that the episodes you mentioned happened when people were being given plots to build their houses on, loans at near zero interests, free education for all, opening of polyclinics( now health centres, new name but part-time), minimum wages, when we saw significant increases in tourism and foreign investment, setting up of Air Malta, Sea Malta, Telemalta, Enemalta. Sorry My memory fails me. If there is someone who can help....

Get that cable fast from Sicily. It would be like having a large UPS for the whole of Malta and Gozo. Was it the Enemalta Engineers who, some months ago, said that they do not agree with a cable connection to the continental grid? mmm

I cannot believe that some find an excuse probably based on their partisan ideology that because in the past we used to have much more power cuts, then this is justfiable. Any modern country, let alone any EU country would make it an issue on the top of its agenda and heads would start rolling. Instead, in Malta staying 4 hours without electricity is normal.I guess it is about time that we as consumers do not only pay bills but start demanding our rights and claim for the damages caused.

Why does every issue in this country have to be turned into a political farce?
Whoever is in office gets the blame PN, LABOUR.
Are you going to blame the influx of jellyfish on a political party too?
This country's direction? Sideways in reverse

I lost thousands of liri because I had to close my shop.
Will Enemalta give compensation?

Is this part of the Smart Island strategy???

The Delimara Power Station was built to replace the Marsa Power Station, but at that time they didn't expect such an increase in load, mainly due to a/c's. Europe doesn't experiences power cuts as often as Malta since it has a grid system with dispatchers supply electricity to the grid when the demand is raised. In Malta, we only have 2 power stations on the grid, thus redundancy is minimal. The solution to this problem is that Malta should connect to the European grid. This way, we will be less likely to experience power cuts, and increase the efficiency of the Delimara power station. For those who don't know, the major costs of running a turbine is starting it. If we could keep a constant load, it would save us a lot of money. Hope this helps.

I don't really care about the argument about the Marsa Power station. Power cuts are normal. We have had 5 months with electricity and after a few hours without it everyone is complaining. With any party in the government, electricity cuts can be expected. For e.g. every passing year more A/Cs are being installed, whether afforded and now since temp is higher, ACs are set on lower temperature. That is just 1 eg. I am sure that no government has any intention on leaving anyone without electricity, so quit making this a political matter. And stop taking everything for granted.

To J Hughes.

Fair enough that we used to have regular power shortages; But remember you are talking about between 35 to 25 years ago. This PN administration has been in power for 25 years alone , and constantly raised the prices of electricity we pay....

Don't lose track of the time. you are still living at least 25 years ago...

For those of you who remember, 30 to 40 years ago, PN used to accuse Mintoff of buying second hand equipment for Marsa Powerstation (which was probably true).

The problem now is that, after 30 to 40 years, PN is still dependent on Marsa Powerstation and the 2nd hand equipment which Mintoff used ot buy.

At least Mintoff left money in the treasury to upgrade. Today, we have aged equipment and a huge national debt... which is the legacy of the PN administration.

It’s sad to read how many immature Maltese are left on the island and people suffering from memory loss. Some people seem to forget that not too long ago Malta use to suffer from power cuts on a regular basis, it happened so often that Malta looked like a Christmas tree , lights ON lights OFF, lights ON lights OFF.

Also to all of you with short memory, just a reminder about the water cuts that we use to experience, when water bowsers had to come and fill your water tank on the roof. Do you hypocrites remember who was running the country when all this was going on???

Open your eyes and look around you and thank God for what we have and who we are, think of all those that do not even know what electricity is.

Now can somebody please explain what does Gonzi have to do with the power outage.

Looking forward to hear some sad and immature explanations.

Nice one J Abela, enjoy.

Roderick,

Regretfully I share the same fate since I trusted Melita with my fixed line communications.

Goes to show how we still depend on the Marsa Station..wasn't it meant to be closed down ages ago? Shame!

@Riccardo Portanier
Cheaper does not mean better, my friend.

These are things that happen everywhere. Let us not forget the days when electricity and water cut was the agenda of each and every day!

It could have been the Labour in governemnt and electricty power could goes off too. So for all those of you who blame the government for this power cut, I am afraid to say that you do not have a cause here. Power failure is not a Government/Opposition issue. I agree that all people living right now in Malta are suffering heat, so am I, but what about all those employees who embarked on an emergency plan to fix up the problem at Enemalta? Do you think that these people have air conditions around their butt to save them from sweating?

HELLO MALTESE PEOPLE, let's think about our fellow workers, working inside Enemalta, under the failed boiler and thank them for their hard work done to the Nation!

Konna w'adna nghixu f'pajjiz tal-Mickey Mouse
Waqt li l-Politici Jiddiskutu, l-futur tal-magna tad-dawl
Gurdien dahal helu helu u tajjar il-fuse li tefana fid-dlam

Tbissmu hbieb!

Remember those idiots protesting outside Castille and in the streets of Valletta holding buckets, pots and pans on top of their heads way back?? i wonder where are they now!! Suffering in silence, not uttering a word whilst wiping the sweat! Of course, we don't have a problem do we? Everything is fine! Remember the -famous point in PN electoral manifesto, Water & Electricity will not be cut abruptly!! Viva s-surcharge

the right way to attract investment to malta

JOSEPH CASSAR (52 minutes ago)
"IN OFFICE , BUT WITHOUT POWER" LIKE GONZIPN


Very witty....at least a good laugh to put me out of my sweaty misery with fans down!! Douze points Mr. Cassar! :)

By the way...I'm NOT on a generator.... power just returned.

Mur gibkom bil-lampa kemm tgorru izjed. Hsibtu li ma tistax issir hsara? Onor Prim Ministru fittex ghamel dak il-cable nbejn Malta u Sqallija, halli ma jkunx hawn min igorr.

@ J.Abela....are your employees with you, or did you leave them to slave in the heat?

it seems that summer has begun.

@ Riccardo Portanier:

I have a GO line and a Melita line. The Melita line is dead, but the GO line is still live. Perhaps that should solve your problem.

If one Power station breaks down - what happened to the other?
Goes to show there is only one working, so why do we need another?
Oh, yes we have to spend the Tax payers money somewhere, don't worry get rich quick

This is ridiculous! I cannot even phone and I am supposed to be working towards a tight deadline.

I liked that EU flag fluttering outside the Power Station.
EU flag but third world service!!
And to crown it all, paid for at EU prices if not higher!!

wasn't the delimara station built to replace the marsa station? how come when the marsa plant goes off it affects so many people?

This is the third time I have had to run the generator during the day this year (I do not run it at night so as not to disturb others). This is a vast improvement on ten years ago when I had to run it sometimes several times a month.

I really can’t stand seeing my employees slaving in this heat – so I have decided to leave the office early today and go and relax at home near my swimming pool with a couple of ice cool beers.

Life seems to deal me a bad hand once in a while, but I have learned to take it on the chin and bear it.

@Joseph Cassar: lol....I liked your post!!!

Gonzi ra d-dawl....fl-elelezzjoni!!!.....Int rajtu?

William Bellia you might wish to note that some people have still been billed without an electricity meter, so I would rephrase your comment ;)

@ S Saliba
le din id-darba gonzi mhux se jehel ma rasna u wara kollox gonzi x jinteresah minnek, hu ghandu l-generator ahna le... lanqas jinteresah dwar il-poplu ha jinteresah ghax mar id-dawl!...

come on wake up!

"IN OFFICE , BUT WITHOUT POWER" LIKE GONZIPN

@ Alfredo Agius

I totally Agree!

@Chrissey,

just for your info, your electricity meter is not recording any electricity use at the moment, so.. your reduction in your bill is done automatically

We are all grateful that power cuts are in fact news. The days when power and water cuts were our daily bread are thankfully over. But let us never take anything for granted. Unless the investment in this sector keeps up with Malta’s economic development, we can easily regress to the dark ages of the eighties. New investment in power generation and connecting Malta to the European grid are indispensable.

Isn't it ironic how the people posting and complaining about this are actually the ones that actually have generator backup at the moment, and not plunged into darkness?

No Electricity
No Generator
Just a laptop and an HSDPA Modem,

Just enough to tell the govt to go ...............................................................................................

Opps, battery's dead..

BYeeeeeeeeee.......

Alla jbierek kemm hawn min m'ghandux x'jaghmel! Why don't you just hope that no one got injured because sadly enough these things can happen especially in places like the Power Station!!!

Hope everyone gets a reduction in their bills, for the hours they have been without electricity !!!
Everyone should log the hours they are without electricity, and bombard the supplier with complaints to get a reduction.

The EU had insisted with Malta that the Marsa power station be closed down by accession date.

Ma nistax nifhem kif hafna nies jamluwha tal- bravi u dejjem imqadru...isu bhal li kieku Malta biss jinqata d- dawl...ma tridtx tkun gharef ghalekk jezistu l- ups u l- generators ghax filfatt jista jinqata d- dawl kullimkien...u hekk li gara

Apparently Gonzi told the people at Enemalta to cut off power to all those areas where people didn't vote PN :-)

This is one of the few times that I have to say that Im lucky to be in the AC @ work! :D

oh, btw, we are going to get it for browsing during work time xD

Prime Minister order a full scale investigation into this serious power failure. Answers must be given. What was the cause of this power failure. We know that such things occur even in France and Italy and Germany. But in Malta????? Several workers have been left idle doing nothing for hours. Nothin less than a full scale investigation and within a reasonable time (not more than one month) will satisfy us that yours is not an incompeteent government which does not know how to rule this island. And those responsible must have their heads remnoved from office immediately. And no excuses. And also ignore all talk about scandals at delimara. get that new power station installed as soon as possible. Even if you have to give a direct order. GiVE IT and show that your government really cares for us.

Those who are lucky enough to be with a generator set, and even luckier to have air conditioning are unlucky that they have to work!!

@ S Saliba: Inwahhlu f' Alfred Sant (issa Joseph Muscat) fil kas bhal ma konnna naghmlu s-soltu :)

Did I forget to shift the calendar? Is it already 2012 and Marsa Power station is shut down? This is the way it will be without MPS.

the generator went on... was hoping our boss would send us home!

The jellyfish will be down without power.

Why did men invented generators?????? I could have been outside at the moment and not writing this comment :p

This all boils down to bad planning and incompetence of all those in charge and who should be accountable for such major faults.

L-aqwa li se naghmlu l-iSmart Meters!!! The government should identify the top priorities on this matter and tackle them with the utmost determination and diligence, but perhaps we're asking for too much... But in this country we excel only in commissioning studies, rejecting them and arguing about all the frills without giving priority to the most important issues.

it's the end of the world... as we know it :p

@ Miguel Micallef

beware of the jellyfish !

I guess the government is acting on the message that the public gave him in the elections......started to lower the electricity tariffs for everyone :)

"In office and in power" ... LOL but without electricity. What a shame in 2009 and all the island suffering from a blackout... and as usual no one takes responsibility for all this.

tghid Gonzi ha jehel ukoll did-darba!!!

I am sure it was the blizzard! Or was it an alien mother ship that beamed x-rays at the solar powered Marsa station? Or was it the newly set up wind turbines in Delimara, they got clogged with bird droppings? Or...was it the solar panels on top of all public buildings, they got darkened with soil-filled rain....Hmmm let me see...It must be an energy saving initiative...Yeah. It makes sense. In Berlin this week 1 minute black-out made the headlines...
Malta, dear Malta. You deserve MUCH better...

I'm lucky then, and that includes our generator catering for air conditioning too! :D

Let's all go for a swim!

:D

All Maltas down.. are you?

Malta - pay more for less

(still online with the benefit of a UPS)

whoever comments here can consider himself lucky :-)

i'm at work and we've got a generator... but the lack of air conditioning is starting to feel uncomfortable