Opposition leader Simon Busuttil this morning fended off criticism that his party has switched sides and is now against privatisation, bus said that water and electricity were essential services which should be kept under Government control.

Dr Busuttil was replying to questions from Times of Malta during a visit to the Vittoriosa local council, this morning.

In his comments the PN leader said that “Utilities are too important for our country to be allowed in the hands of private companies or foreign governments”.

Dr Busuttil described the partial privatisation of Enemalta as a clear example of the Labour Party’s lack of political direction, saying that this decision was coming from a party known for its anti-privatisation stance. He added that the PL was forging ahead with these plans even though it had pledged not to privatise Enemalta.

The PN has also criticised the deal saying that the generation of electricity will be largely in the hands of a foreign company running the gas-powered plan and the Chinese Government who will have a minority stake in Enemalta.

On the other hand the Prime Minister fended off this criticism saying that with the interconnector project launched by the PN government, Malta would still depend on Sicily and that the Government would retain control of the majority of shares in Enemalta.

Probed about this point Dr Busuttil reiterated that the new gas-fired power station would generate half of the electricity supply, whereas the Chinese would have a minority stake from the other half which would be generated by Enemalta. This would lead to a situation in which Enemalta would be generating less than half of the electricity supply.

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