Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi urged the Labour Party to come clean on its energy proposal and publish the technical reports underpinning it.

In a first reaction yesterday after touring Cavalieri Hotel in St Julian’s, Dr Gonzi insisted he wanted to see the details of Labour’s plan.

“I hope that, today (yesterday), the Labour Party will also publish all the technical reports to justify all the proposals being put on table. We need to know who they spoke to, who they approached and all the details of thisproposal, which are crucial to carry out the analysis,” Dr Gonzi said.

He insisted the Government was committed to giving the country the lowest sustainable rates possible and anything other than this would jeopardise the country’s finances.

Dr Gonzi said the PL’s proposal endorsed the Government’s strategy to invest in an interconnector to Sicily and the eventual conversion to gas. The difference was that the Government opted for a gas pipeline, he added. Asked whether his Administration had ever considered such a plan, Dr Gonzi said the Government had several proposals.

He noted that when evaluating such plans it was important to factor in the element of expenses, which had to be added on to the tariffs to recoup the investment.

“The Government has published all the information it had so far,” Dr Gonzi said.

Later, the Nationalist Party issued a statement asking for a list of meetings the PL had with private contractors over the plans and whether any of the companies made donations to the party or any of its candidates.

Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Michael Briguglio said that, at first glance, various aspects of the PL’s energy plans were welcome while others were problematic.

The proposed shift from heavy fuel oil to gas was positive but he called for more clarity on what he described as the optimistic price of gas the proposal was based on. “Like other fossil fuels, its price is likely to increase in the years to come due to an increase in global demand and limited supply,” he said.