Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday reassured Enemalta employees their jobs and their future were guaranteed.

“I will keep my word with you as I kept it with the rest of the population when I promised them cheaper electricity rates,” he said while addressing a political activity in Birżebbuġa yesterday.

He was referring to what he described as “incitement” on their future after Shanghai Electric bought a stake in Enemalta.

Some employees were concerned about their jobs following a meeting last week in which the prospect was raised that they could be redeployed abroad with a subsidiary of the firm that will be set up with Shanghai Electric, which has agreed to buy a stake in Enemalta.

Dr Muscat said the government was working hard to ensure the best possible future for Enemalta employees.

He insisted that, had the Nationalist Party been still in power, Enemalta workers would have suffered the same fate of former dockyard workers.

He pointed out that, for the first time in history, Malta was looking at becoming an energy exporter.

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil expressed solidarity with Enemalta employees, saying they had been “obscenely betrayed”.

He said the government had first told them Enemalta would not be privatised but had then sold a stake to the Chinese state-owned company.

Efforts were under way to reduce the number of Enemalta employees, Dr Busuttil said, adding that they were being told to work abroad or remain employed in Malta but under restricted conditions, reduced allowances and take-home pay.

Dr Muscat said the employees were being “incited” through such stories. He assured them that their jobs and their futures were guaranteed.

Enemalta chairman Charles Mangion insisted that no worker was being forced to do anything and he underlined that last week’s meeting was part of a consultation process.

“This is actually an opportunity. We insisted with our Chinese partners that the workers on the books should be given the right of first refusal should there be any opportunity for redeployment abroad.”

General Workers’ Union section secretary Jason Deguara said the union had been approached by workers’ expressing concerns but the GWU had not been informed officially. “I’m sure the government will discuss with us before moving ahead with something like this.

“But if they don’t, they will have trouble. We will be looking into this in the interest of the workers,” he said.

Under the preliminary deal signed two weeks ago, Shanghai Electric will invest €320 million to buy a 33 per cent stake in Enemalta and an undisclosed majority stake in the new Delimara power station, known as the BWSC plant.

On top of this, two new joint ventures will be set up between Enemalta and Shanghai Electric to start new projects connected with renewable energy and the servicing of other power stations in the region.

A significant portion of the work carried out by the new subsidiaries, by its very nature, would take place abroad.