The announcement that the government will be supplying electricity to all the squatters at the illegal shanty town in Armier is an affront to anyone who respects the rule of law in this country.

Back in August, this newspaper reported that the State energy corporation was replacing existing electricity meters in Armier with smart meters. At the time, Enemalta said it was only changing the meters installed in approximately 25 per cent of the illegal summer houses. As for the remaining 75 per cent, Enemalta said it would be taking steps to stop them from stealing electricity.

Now the Prime Minister has gone a step further to say that all squatters occupying public land illegally at Armier will be receiving their electricity supply from the government. This smacks of populism of the worst kind.

The Prime Minister has argued that everyone knows that squatters denied a meter were stealing electricity from the public grid. Installing meters, he said, would stop the theft.

The argument does not hold water.

If theft is involved, then this is a matter for the police to handle and not for the government to act arbitrarily.

Unfortunately, we have been down this road before when the scandal over the tampered smart meters erupted. At that time too, the government had opted for back-room deals with the thieves who came forward voluntarily instead of leaving the matter to the police to deal with, as it should have.

There is no guarantee that electricity theft at Armier will stop with the introduction of smart meters. People who are prepared to steal public land and electricity cannot be automatically expected to change their habits overnight. It is law enforcement and not appeasement that should be applied at that shanty town but the Prime Minister, when questioned, avoided saying whether those who stole electricity will even be fined.

All this is taking place to a background where the government is in discussions, behind closed doors, with representatives of squatters who between them have built about 800 summer houses.

The stakeholders at Armier are not the squatters but every citizen of this country who is being denied access to what should be a picturesque site. The decision to now provide the squatters with electricity does not bode well for the outcome of those talks. Law-abiding citizens who pay their bills and do not steal public land will most probably feel short-changed when the talks are concluded.

Above all, the decision to install more meters at Armier sets a very dangerous precedent. Today, anyone wanting to install electricity in any building is required to present Enemalta with a compliance certificate issued by the planning authority certifying that the property has the required permits and contains no illegalities. There is no way that Mepa can issue such certificates for that shanty town and no self-respecting architect will sign any declaration for the issuance of such certificates.

If the government goes ahead and installs the smart meters and fails to take action against theft that “everyone knows about”, it would be usurping the powers of both the planning authority and the police in one fell swoop.

Providing electricity to squatters does not stop theft, it merely makes a mockery of the rule of law.

If the government truly wants to stop the illegal occupation of public land and electricity theft, one solution is to cut the electricity supply to that shanty town altogether. That would make the so-called ‘boathouses’ uninhabitable and send a clear message that no one is above the law.