The government should clearly declare alternative wind farm sites it to is-Sikka l-Bajda, should this site be found not viable, environment opposition spokesman Leo Brincat said.

He said in a statement that although the Labour Party had been prudent on the prospective Sikka l-Bajda wind farm to allow the necessary studies to be carried out, the Labour Party was concerned that spokesmen for the ministry in charge seemed to be more comfortable updating certain people, rather than the public or Parliament, on developments.

Mr Brincat said that had it not been for certain reports in the media, the public would not have known about the alleged structural and geological problems linked to the site – or if these problems would be a determining factor in the final decision about the choice of site.

The government, he said, had the necessary means to have preliminary indications on this, prior to the conclusion of the environment impact assessment in the coming weeks.

It was also strange that, out of the blue, a ministry expert gave one to understand that the government was not excluding the more active consideration of a large wind farm away from the Gozitan coast, as part of the eco-Gozo initiative.

Originally the permanent secretary at the same ministry had argued against this and the government had not yet measured wind speeds at this site, so much so that it had not yet put up the pole required to take this measurement.

Now, the minister had publicly said that wind studies at l-Ahrax tal-Mellieha had been ongoing for a long time. All this, Mr Brincat said, was kept under wraps for many months.

Although the opposition appreciated the fact that studies on is-Sikka l-Bajda were continuing, it found it strange that another ministry spokesman gave a foreign delegation to understand that wind speed results were more positive than expected.

Mr Brincat said that in the meantime, although the ministry had told Parliament that there were no ongoing studies for a prospective wind farm in the Torri l-Ahmar vicinity, the government did not exclude the holding of such studies in future at any stage, especially if is-Sikka l-Bajda site did not turn out to be viable.