Calls for the government to publish all energy agreements and remain open to scrutiny are justified but only on condition that commercially sensitive information be withheld, according to a legal expert and a former Enemalta chairman.
Kevin Aquilina, dean of the university’s faculty of law, and lecturer and former Enemalta chairman Robert Ghirlando expressed such an opinion when approached by Times of Malta in view of Opposition claims that the government’s dealings in the energy sector lacked transparency.
The PN based its accusation on grounds that a number of agreements, including the deal signed with Electrogas for the construction of a new gas-fired power plant, were never made public.
To date, only the contract signed with Shangai Electric Power for the acquisition of a 33 per cent stake in Enemalta has been tabled in Parliament.
“I would have published the contracts but removed any figures or data that might give an advantage to competitors. However, information of an administrative nature, like conditions and obligations, are not commercially sensitive and so could be published,” Prof. Aquilina said.
“Ultimately, with no contract in hand one cannot make any judgement on the government’s decisions and their repercussions,” he added. Prof. Ghirlando echoed Prof. Aquilina, saying: “Given that Enemalta has a monopoly in the energy sector and that any commercially-sensitive information can nevertheless be withheld, I do not see any reason for not publishing other energy agreements,” he said.
Speaking during the parliamentary debate on the Shangai Electric Power deal, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil last week complained that the material published by the government was insufficient to form an opinion on the matter.
The deal saw Shangai Electric Power inject €250 million into the debt-ridden energy company and invest an additional €70 million to buy the BWSC plant, which it would convert to gas.
Ahead of the debate, the Opposition had called for the tabling of Enemalta’s seven-year business plan, the deal reached with Electrogas and the two power purchase agreements with Electrogas and Shanghai Electric.
Questions sent to the Office of the Prime Minister on the reasons behind the government’s decision to keep the documents requested by the PN under wraps were still unanswered at the time of writing.
Asked by the press on this matter, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat insisted last week that his administration was much more open to scrutiny than any previous one.
He said the last Nationalist government had not published the controversial agreement for the construction of the BWSC plant and the contract through which Arriva was granted a 10-year concession to operate the bus service in 2010.
This was challenged by Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi who produced copies of both agreements in Parliament.
The voluminous BWSC agreement, spread over 2,000 pages, was published on May 5, 2010 bar parts of it, which were deemed commercially sensitive. These included lists of suppliers and sub-contractors, technical data, diesel engine manufacturers, letters from the European Investment Bank and correspondence sent by the Danish company to Enemalta in 2008.
At the time, Dr Muscat accused the PN government of avoiding public scrutiny.
As for the Arriva agreement, which was tabled on October 3, 2011, the entire 128-page contract was published, with the exception of the company’s financial projections and the list of employees.
That publication followed a public outcry against the bus service reform launched in July of that year, which was widely considered to have been a fiasco.