Government silence on energy audit

Almost two weeks ago the National Audit Office published a report by the Auditor General by way of a Performance Audit on Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Efficiency in Malta. It was dated September 2009.

Highlights of the report were carried faithfully in this newspaper while the PL, through a media release of mine, stated that the 20 or so sharp observations and concerns expressed by the Auditor General demanded a clear-cut explanation by the government, particularly when strategy documents remain in draft form without having been formally approved yet by the government itself and that, by its own admission, the report concludes that the exploitation of RES remains marginal.

Even more worrying is that no adequate monitoring seems to be in place regarding the implementation of the energy efficiency measures and that, unless policy development and project implementation are stepped up, it would be very difficult for Malta to reach all its renewable and energy efficiency targets. Many found it even more baffling that information regarding electricity consumption by all the government is still unavailable, thus leaving the government not in a position to measure the percentage of electricity generated by the photovoltaic cells installed as a ratio of the total electricity that it consumes.

Even more worrying has been its official silence so far in reaction to the NAO report as well as to our official call for a clear-cut explanation of this dismal state of affairs.