With Enemalta’s debt running at over €800 million, which is a veritable millstone around the country’s neck, the government’s decision to work out a salvage plan involving foreign and local capital in a revamped energy set-up was a right move.

The previous administration had tried to tackle the debt problem through a restructuring process involving the setting up of what is called a special purpose vehicle but Labour’s project is more expansive and can well considerably strengthen the energy sector if only all the parties involved work in harmony and in accordance to established plans.

Where the government has been going manifestly wrong is in the matter of keeping the electorate in the know. With its pledge to bring down the energy tariffs for households and industry having been the kingpin of its election campaign, it jumped the gun when it committed itself to the completion of a gas-fired power station by March this year. The government stuck to its commitment even when it was evident that it could not meet the deadline.

The country was eventually told that the project had been delayed by 15 months but, other than showing how ill-advised it had been in announcing the March 2015 deadline, the delay also caused problems to the government as it had to see how it was going to finance the tariff cuts.

Now, finally, the deal with Shanghai Electric Power has been signed and the company has advanced the €250 million of the amount due under the agreement. This will reduce the company’s debt, with the government’s debt guarantee becoming equivalent to the shareholding it owns.

Through the deal, Shanghai Electric will be taking a 33 per cent stake in Enemalta and a 90 per cent stake in the BWSC plant, now hived off to a separate company, D3 Generation Limited. Shanghai Electric will also spend €70 million to convert the plant to gas. Another key player in the project is Electrogas, a consortium that is to build the gas fired power station.

The agreement with Shanghai Electric, signed early in December, had to be debated in Parliament last month. However, the debate was postponed at the request of the Opposition because the Nationalist Party leader, Simon Busuttil, was away on party business at the time. At the same time, the Opposition is insisting that the government should first publish all the relevant contracts before a debate on the deal is held in Parliament.

Since energy supply is an essential service, the electorate expects to be fully informed of what the government is doing on its behalf. This is no mere commercial contract but a project of such a magnitude that requires full transparency at every stage of its implementation if the people are to put their minds at rest that what is being planned is workable.

The procrastination by the government in announcing the delay in the completion of the gas-fired power station, and the flippancy with which the Prime Minister dealt with it when saying that the delay was only of a couple of months, did not help in instilling absolute confidence in the project.

The government has a chance now of correcting its stand by being more forthcoming with information on the project, not just about the essential details of the gas-fired plant and the conversion of the BWSC plant but also about the supply of gas from Azerbaijan and about the seven-year plan the government says Enemalta has drawn up.

Unless the government becomes more transparent in its work, it will continue to run into difficulties.