Enemalta right to involve other authorities in power cut investigation - Gonzi
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this morning that Enemalta had done well to involve other authorities in the investigation of last week's power outage.
To have a country lose power after so much effort was made to attract new investment, and when the country had been judged to be the most advanced in European e-government services was no joke, Dr Gonzi said. He said one investor had told him that a power cut of one hour cost him €5 million in turnover.
He said he did not know whether the outage was caused by a technical fault or sabotage. But it was worth recalling how three years ago, there was a major outage when Enemalta was to be discussed in Parliament. The same happened in June when Enemalta was also on the parliamentary agenda, and again last week, a few hours after the corporation's chairman was interviewed on PBS and shortly before he (Dr Gonzi) was to reply to the budget speech.
Coincidences happened, Dr Gonzi said, but what had happened had to be objectively investigated, not least to avoid a repetition.
He said that no sabotage had resulted in the investigation in the power cut in June. But even if there was no sabotage, he said, Malta needed to always have a guaranteed power supply. The best solution would be to have a cable to Sicily which would avoid such a situation - since the outage was caused when a fault at Marsa power station had a ripple effect on Delimara station.
Malta, he said, should not depend on just one system of power generation. Neither should it depend on just one fuel - one could see what happened to Eastern Europe last year when gas supplies were interrupted, for example. The best solution would be gas, fuel oil, inter-connector to Sicily and wind farms, he said.
Dr Gonzi said it was hoped that the inter-connector would start being used in 2013 or 2014, leading to the shutting down of Marsa power station, which would sharply reduce Malta's emissions, something which was also very important.
In other points raised by Dr Gonzi, who was being interviewed at the PN club in Lija, Dr Gonzi said no decision had been taken yet on who would be nominated to serve as European Commissioner and the issue would be discussed in the Cabinet. The decision would be announced at the appropriate time.
Replying to another question, Dr Gonzi said no decision had been taken yet on the future use of the former St Luke's Hospital. This, he said, was a prime site and the government hoped to attract foreign investment to it. One therefore, had to monitor international economic developments to make the best decision. He also pointed out that part of Karin Grech Hospital is being used as a rehabilitation facility until new facilities are built.
On the Mepa audit-officer, Dr Gonzi said he respected the auditor, but he expected that the auditor to respect other institutions. No institution should jump into the shoes of another institution as that would harm democracy.
What would happen if he was to start criticising the judges when they applied the law? Dr Gonzi said he was surprised that Joseph Muscat was taking a different position and claiming omerta'. This recalled how the old Labour government, when they disagreed with a court decision, had shuffled the judges.
Dr Gonzi said he respected the auditor when he carried out his role to investigate matters related to Mepa but this case applied to a decision taken by a Magistrate.
9 Comments
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Richard Galea
Nov 23rd 2009, 10:36
Dear Prime Minister....
There was no point for the Enemalta management to call the police or anyone else if they suspected sabotage.....as common since dictates that they are the ONLY people capable to establish if it was.
Once it is established that it was sabotage.....Than the Police would be called in.
The only sabotage that is already been done is to the creditability of the PEOPLE to the persons who are running this medieval country.
jo azzopardi
Nov 23rd 2009, 09:42
One hour of power shutdown would cost him 5 million.
Try to imagine his electricity bill??
Or do we have to pay for it ??
i. Brincat
Nov 22nd 2009, 21:27
You've been in government for more than 20 years now Dr Gonzi. High time you woke up to the fact that Malta needs a guaranteed energy supply.
J Martinelli
Nov 22nd 2009, 19:23
@ Dr. Bezzina
Your comments are good, logical and coming from someone quite familiar with law.
On the other hand, one can look at things from a layman's angle and I beg to point out that your comments are completely correct in a case brought to court without prejudice.
A case which has already been tried by public opinion, or spun for political advantage, does not fall in the category you argued about.
A case in question commented by the Auditor had been kicked around by a political party bent on discrediting particular individuals and were not at all respectful of a judicial decision meant to bring the one particular case to a close.
In having the right to criticize our judiciary at our whim, shall we start contesting every court decision simply because we can? When does the 'Contempt of Court' kick in?
C Falzon
Nov 22nd 2009, 19:16
I think Dr Gonzi may need to inform himself better before making certain statements.
"Malta needed to always have a guaranteed power supply. The best solution would be to have a cable to Sicily which would avoid such a situation - since the outage was caused when a fault at Marsa power station had a ripple effect on Delimara station."
A fault such as the one that happened last week is likley to have exactly the same effect with the interconnector in place. Just as a fault happened in switchgear between the Marsa and Marsaxlokk station the exact same thing can happen if a fault happens in the switchgear connecting the Sicily cable to the Marsaxlokk power station. To be sure there are many good reasons for installing the interconnector, but this is not one of them.
C A Camilleri
Nov 22nd 2009, 17:06
A point on the St Lukes site. '..... the government hoped to attract foreign investment to it.'
Is this for real. The urban area lies just over the most heavilly traffic dense area Msida no doubt. Give back the people the air that was stolen throughout the years through the belching hospital chimney right above the area.
Dig deep and use the underground for whatever use, perhaps a private underground carpark, or a carefully planned underground shopping complex and at the same time maintain a mature tree park in the area where the hospital once stood. Malta is void of such parks and would be welcome by all. Try thinking environment for once.
Galea. L
Nov 22nd 2009, 16:48
"No decision has been taken yet on the use of the former St Luke's Hospital."
When will it be taken? When it has to be pulled down due to lack of maintenance?
"The best solution would be to have a cable to Sicily which would avoid such a situation "
What guarantee do you have that the cable will not develop a fault?
How much will it cost exactly because we know that everything costs the taxpayers several times the estimated cost?
Furthermore, why rely on foreign supply when you can built it in Malta?
What happens if the foreign supply is turned off for some reason and you don't have the required capacity in Malta itself?
r cutajar
Nov 22nd 2009, 16:38
While admitting that I lack complete knowledge of the LAW as is and as studdied by our Courts of Justice ,I along with so many thousands and thousands of citezens can eerily feel that an invisibile force is making the rounds of minds of so many whose position is to prevent any form of abuse and of others whose position is to methe out just punishements
Public Perception IS very low regarding plain ,simple natural inclintionaly thinking and logic would be conclusions.,instead the Public is made to feel and moreover sort of cohersed to lead him/herself in front of a mirror-get a self inflicted Pinch -(yes i am alive and not dreaming) and Does Not dare to ask any Questions.
Yes the Country ' s Echelons are making a MOCKERY of Natural Justice to you in the mirror knowing that on points of technicalities they cannot be challenged .
One of The Ten commandments warns not te even wish of thy brethren's wife if you do, you have SINNED
serious considerations should be internally disscused to stop this pitifully state of affairs
Dr Emmanuel Bezzina,LL.D.,M.J.,
Nov 22nd 2009, 15:15
It is absolutely healthy in a Democracy to objectively criticize Court Judgements as long as the real facts are well-known and the REAL TRUTH is undisputed.This forms an integral part of the notion,concept and fundamental right of FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION now also enforceable through the ratified Treaty of Lisbon in the EU`s Charter of Fundamental Rights.A COURT OF JUSTICE is there to bring forth JUSTICE on the merits of any particular issue not to avoid JUSTICE being seen to be done on a subjective interpretation of some legal technicality which has got nothing to do with the merits of any particular issue.
This is not a question of criticizing Judges and / or Magistrates - it is a fundamental matter that the people must have faith in the Courts of Justice and that Justice be seen to be done:JUSTICE CANNOT BE DONE if a Case is thrown out on an unimportant technicality which in no way distorts or impinges on the BASICS sought to be judically determined in accordance with the substance of the law as it results explicitly from the context and contents of a particular Judicial Act.In this sense,it is healthy to constructively criticize!