Re-electing the Nationalist Party to government would lead to further tariff increases and spell doom for Enemalta workers, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday.

Our health and that of our children must come first

Speaking at a party meeting in Msida yesterday evening, Dr Muscat challenged the PN to make its own energy proposals and said the health benefits of switching to gas from heavy fuel oil were reason enough to make the PL’s plan worthwhile.

“This is a crucial part of our road map because it will free us from dependency on one of the most polluting fuels in the world. Our health and that of our children must come first,” he said, noting how Marsa and Delimara residents, close to the country’s two power stations, had higher rates of asthma and cancer.

He warned Enemalta workers that their livelihoods were at stake.

“Just as the Government turned on dockyard, Air Malta and Sea Malta workers, next time it will be their turn,” he said.

The PL estimates its energy plan would lead to savings of €187 million; €77 million would go towards reducing electricity bills by an average of 25 per cent. The remaining €110 million would help plug Enemalta’s debts, with the firm some €800 million in the red.

Dr Muscat described the plan as “concrete, realistic and credible” and said external consultants had confirmed its feasibility.

Naysayers who believed there would be no private sector interest in the plan were myopic, he said.

“They do not understand the entrepreneurial spirit. I think there is big interest, both locally and internationally, in investing in this.”

He said he had sympathy for sceptics who felt the proposed timeframes were too tight but argued that “too many people have grown used to the mediocrity of the present system”.

Dr Muscat ended his speech on an uplifting note, saying he felt privileged to have the approval of those around him and insisting on an inclusive politics – the perfect cue for him and the crowd to yell out the PL’s rallying call: “Because Malta is for all!”