I refer to the article erroneously headed ‘Minister ignores recent liquefied gas plant blasts’ and sub-headed ‘Brincat claims the last explosion happened 70 years ago’ (March 20).

As can be confirmed from the transcripts of the parliamentary debate that was held last Tuesday, I did not even go into the merits of the proposed local LNG gas plant but had limited myself to underlining and stressing the safety of LNG compared to other energy alternatives.

Any Google search can instantly reveal the incidents that have occurred in all different energy-related sectors to date.

At no time did I state – as has been implied in the article mentioned above - that the most recent incident went back 70 years but I always stressed the word major.

The reality on the ground would show that, despite the size of the industry, accidents in the LNG sector, when compared to other sectors, are very few and also relatively rare.

Another certainty is that there is nothing resembling the conflagration implied by the Opposition leader and various Opposition main spokesmen.

I am reliably informed that LNG terminals are expensive because of the extensive use of failsafe equipment, leak detection systems and safeguards that limit the probability of accident, as is the case with aircraft.

Editor’s note: The minister was contacted for his comment following a Tweet he posted, which said: “This evening I revealed in Parliament that in spite of PN alarmist approach on LNG d last major incident worldwide dates back 70 years 1944.”

We believe Mr Brincat was given ample opportunity to clarify his claim.