Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday told Opposition leader Simon Busuttil he had understood nothing and was “out of touch” with energy issues.
Answering questions by the Opposition after making a statement on the latest EU summit and his visit to Asia, Dr Muscat said Dr Busuttil was behaving as if the government had declared the interconnector would not be used.
Labour had always promised it would adopt an energy mix and that the interconnector would play a role in it.
While the interconnector was originally estimated to cost €182 million, there was a variation of €42 million, meaning it would cost more than €220 million.
Dr Busuttil’s idea that the interconnector was simply “plug and play” was “out of touch”, he said.
While there were indications that the gas pipeline would be concluded by the end of the year, a regasification unit was necessary for security of supply.
There were several instances where the pipeline could be damaged. In such a situation, the interconnector would not be able to satisfy Malta’s energy demands on its own.
Replying to comments by George Pullicino, Dr Muscat said the European Council agreed on the European renewable energy targets. Malta’s aims should not be below those established by the European Council.
Interconnector is not simply ‘plug and play’- Muscat
While the government would implement schemes – aimed at the reduction of emissions by traffic, agriculture, air conditioning systems and fridges – part of the amount could be “swapped” with the power station’s emission reduction. Nevertheless, the government did not seek to make use of such system as an excuse to remain idle.
Speaking on irregular immigration, Dr Muscat said Malta was in an awkward situation because, although other countries boasted they allocated many resources to the issue, Malta appeared to be giving less although, in reality, it was giving 100 per cent of its resources.
Although the situation was better than in the past, things could suddenly change.
Dr Muscat referred to Marthese Portelli’s questions, saying no EU member state had yet presented its operational programme.
Interjecting, Dr Portelli said that several countries had indeed done so and this was evident from the EU’s website.
Parliamentary Secretary Ian Borg said several member states, including Malta, submitted a draft version of their operational programme. The EU requested members to submit their final version by November 19 and Malta would honour its commitment.
Dr Muscat said Malta Enterprise had just announced an agreement with the International Energy Group for Malta to become an energy trading hub between Europe and Asia.
He told Beppe Fenech Adami that the citizenship investment programme was the result of hard work by the government, despite the PN’s opposition.
The government was also working with others and not just Henley & Partners on the programme.
He was satisfied that the European Commission had declared that Malta’s economy was “sailing smoothly in choppy waters”.
It was predicted that Malta would have the third-largest economic growth in the EU next year.
He explained that the Commission had asked for clarifications on the forthcoming Budget because Malta followed the British system in presenting its Budget.
This could be changed next year with regard to the timing and the way of presenting the Budget.
Talks on the issue could be held with the Opposition to move away from the British system.
Concluding, Dr Muscat said that the energy project would be accomplished.
The time frames for its completion would be announced by the Energy Minister.