Enemalta asks BWSC for consent to publish contract

Enemalta Corporation has acted on the Finance Minister's instructions and wrote to the BWSC requesting to be relieved from the confidentiality clause so that the contract signed for the Delimara power station extension could be published.

In a statement, the Finance Ministry said that the contract had been scrutinised by the auditor general as it was one of the documents submitted during the investigation, which lasted 11 months.

But as was normal practice in commercial contracts, a confidentiality clause existed for commercial reasons so both parties had to agree before the contract could be published. This would continue to fizzle out the opposition’s unfounded allegations.

The ministry said that after whole months of corruption allegations, the opposition failed to provide proof to the Public Accounts Committee or the Auditor General and the latter did not conclude there was corruption.

On the Auditor General’s recommendations the tendering process to be improved, the government reiterated that the recommendations would be implemented.

With the publication of the contract, the ministry said, the Opposition leader’s allegation that the contract including a €300 million fine would also be proved wrong.

The opposition leader was bending facts and ministerpreting what the Finance Minister said.

The ministry said the €300 million the minister spoke about where the necessary expense for the country to have an adequate electricity provision in case the extension was not carried out.

These payments included rental feels for an electricity generation plant, fines imposed by the EU because of delays in the closure of the Marsa Plant and an additional expense to continue operating the Marsa station. With the Delimara extension, the country would be saving €500,000 a week.

The electricity rates would also be lower than what the opposition wanted. The opposition, Mr Fenech said, preferred a plant that would increase costs by 30 per cent.