The current polemic about power generation for this island has developed into a systematic refusal to accept that fuel oil is a polluter and heavy fuel oil (HFO) is a super polluter.

Despite the fact that so many countries have changed over to gas, in Malta this Government refuses to accept any opinion except its own and those of cronies of the medical, professional or friendly kind.

The Government has gone so far as to declare that the HFO we are using is so sweet that it is difficult to find (according to Finance Minister Tonio Fenech). If this were so, I would bottle it in one-litre bottles and sell it instead of olive oil at €5 a litre (less 20 per cent profit for the supermarket) and this would fetch Enemalta €4,000 per ton, thus solving the Enemalta deficit in no time at all since it buys this oil at less than €200 per ton.

We have got to a very sorry state indeed if Lawrence Gonzi and Fenech think they can fool all the people all the time.