In his letter ‘Natural born blockers’ (March 28), Joseph Farrugia tries to depict a negative picture of the founding members of the Nationalist Party. He tries to imply that the then Nationalists were trying to block the progress in the supply of electricity when questions were raised about a new generation plant.

I assume this is with reference to the present debate on the new gas generation plant, to which the PN is only objecting in terms of the gas supply rather the plant itself.

It seems it is the habit of the Labour Party or its followers to tell half of the truth, which is often worse than a lie. Since I’m reading the book by Roger Ellul Micallef about the life and times of Sir Temi Zammit, I can confirm that what Farrugia said in his letter is only a half truth.

According to the book, Nerik Mizzi’s father, Fortunato Mizzi, in the Council of Government in 1882, asked when electric light would be extended beyond Valletta. This goes to show that the PN founders were far from natural blockers.

Nerik Mizzi’s objection to the issue of a tender for an additional plant was because, prior to the purchase of the new plant, he wanted the frequent power failures to be investigated. A compromise was reached and the new plant was eventually bought to meet the increased demand for electricity.

Contrary to what Farrugia states, Mizzi was not overruled or ignored but a compromise was reached, so there must have been some sort of discussion in which the different opinions were aired and a decision reached for everyone’s benefit.

I am not surprised by Farrugia’s interpretation because it is in line with that of the present government, which labels anyone who does not agree with it as negative, ignores their opinion and goes ahead with its plans, whatever the objections.