Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said today that the government had rejected a proposal to build an LNG gas terminal after a study conducted by Lehmayer International in 2008 showed that the project involved costly risks which needed to be addressed further.

He said that he had issued instructions to the Malta Resources Authority to publish all the studies and reports it had commissioned on the issue so that the public would have all available information on the energy issue.

On the ENI proposal, revealed last week, Dr Gonzi said the Italian company had proposed two pipelines to Malta some 10 years ago, but the proposal was not financially feasible to the country at that time.

Dr Gonzi was speaking at the end of a walkabout in Valletta where he met shoppers and retailers in Merchants' Street.

He said that the government had invested heavily in Valletta in the past few years, with projects which improved accessibility to the capital city. This had resulted in more business.

He said that in the next five years, the government would continue to invest and create special schemes to boost business activity.

The PN electoral programme will be issued in the coming days.