Simon Busuttil was quoted in Times of Malta (October 10) as saying that he “would not have regularised the theft of public land by installing smart meters at the ‘illegal’ Armier boathouses and that he would have settled the matter without rewarding wrongdoing”.

He added that the decision was another move by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to buy votes, “which amounted to corruption and that style of politics the PN would not be adopting. The installation of smart meters in boathouses illegally built on public land sent the wrong message to law abiding citizens”.

When asked how he would have acted differently to address the situation, Busuttil said he would have settled the issue once and for all in a manner that would not have rewarded people who stole public land. But, as has become customary since he became leader of the Nationalist Party, he sat on the fence. Saying he would have solved the issue without rewarding wrongdoing but conveniently not saying how was not convincing at all.

Considering that only 25 per cent of the boathouses actually have an electric meter, then Enemalta’s decision to stop rampant electricity theft makes sense.

Anyway, I don’t believe the installation of smart meters made any difference because the decision to legalise the boathouses was not taken now.

Indeed, it is worth reminding Busuttil that it was the Nationalist government that legalised the theft of public land when, years back, it installed electricity and water services in the same boathouses at Armier.

It was that, and not the installation of smart meters, that sent the wrong message to law-abiding citizens.