Saga of switched-off Marsa power station precipitators

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech, also responsible at Cabinet level for Enemalta Corporation, in Parliament on Monday went back over the saga of the Marsa power station precipitators that had lain dormant for months.

Replying to a question by Joe Mizzi (PL), Minister Fenech confirmed that in July 2008 Enemalta had received an order from Mepa to stop the contractor from transporting fly ash. After talks with Mepa the transport of fly ash had been resumed on condition that a new tender would be issued with Mepa-approved specifications, but no contractor had shown any interest.

In December 2008 the contractor had told the corporation that he no longer had the permit to transport fly ash. As a result, when the corporation's silos filled up with fly ash the precipitators producing it were switched off.

The transport of fly ash had resumed after the allocation of a tender issued in June 2009.

In his PQ Mr Mizzi had asked minister Fenech to explain why Enemalta, through its then minister Austin Gatt, had blamed the switching off of the precipitators on Mepa's stop order while Mepa had said that Enemalta had switched the precipitators off on its own accord.