Updated - Adds PL reaction - The Nationalist Party said today that there should be no discrimination between businesses and households in compensation given for power cuts.

In a statement over the signature of George Pullicino, spokesman for Enemalta, the party said the €25 payment which the government would give ‘certain people’ after last week’s blackout was not compensation, but payment for people to keep their mouths shut.

This was shown by the fact that the government would compensate certain households but not businesses, which had suffered thousands of euro in damages.

The nature of last week’s blackout had not been seen for years, the PN said, and the governemnt, therefore, should not discriminate between domestic and business consumers.

Dr Muscat had spoken in the past on the culture of responsibility. Now Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi should shoulder responsibility for the decisions he took to remove competent people. It was clear that the people who replaced them were not up to the job when the blackout took place Mr Pullicino said.

In a reaction, the Labour Party said it was political hypocrisy for one to criticise the €25 compensation while forgetting that he was part of a Cabinet which had burdened Malta with high energy bills, while taking a raise of €500 a week.

The compensation reflected responsibility, a word which did not exist in the PN vocabulary.

The government, it was, was committed to instilling seriousness in services to the public while reducing costs, as had been done with the water and electricity bills. 

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