Climate Committee abandoned natural gas decision at the same time that BWSC contract was signed

The government appointed Climate Change Committee abandoned a decision that the country should opt for natural gas within the next six years at the same time that the BWSC contract was signed.

The Labour Party’s spokesman for the environment, Leo Brincat, said in a statement that the first draft of the committee's climate report, included an estimate of the investment required for the country to go for natural gas within six years.

In its final report, however, the committee, led by David Spiteri Gingell, removed the obligation of going for natural gas and set the tone for the use of a plant operated by other sources of energy, including heavy fuel oil.

This was done in a diametrically opposed manner to the specific proposal in favour of the use of natural gas, as highlighted in the national plan for the generation of electricity which had to take the country to the year 2015. This plan never mentioned heavy fuel oil as a viable alternative.

This was of concern when one considered that Mr Spiteri Gingell was now consultant to contractor Nazzareno Vassallo, who was building the heavy fuel oil plant.

The U-turn in the Climate Committee proposals were made between January and September last year and the contract was signed in May of the same year.

This cast doubts in the minds of Maltese and Gozitan taxpayers who were paying for these decisions with their health and money, Mr Brincat said.