The Prime Minister’s longterm plan of converting the Delimara plant into a gas-powered one is definitely a small step in the right direction, thus finally acknowledging that a gas-powered plant is in the best interest of our health, our environment, and our pockets. Indeed, it is a welcome surprise, considering the government has been running briskly in the wrong direction for more than a few years.

However, it has been evident for over seven years, since Malta’s accession to the European Union, that the Marsa plant had a fixed lifespan, and I firmly believe seven years is enough for any government of average competence to deliver what is best for its country and its citizens.

The fact that after a process riddled with, to put it mildly, irregularities, where we have seen laws amended and commissioned reports ignored, we ended up with a heavy fuel oil (HFO)-powered plant, says a lot about the competence and transparency of this government.

Long-term plans and hazy visions are unlikely to influence the electorate; short-term decisions undoubtedly do, and there is an important one coming up soon. Will this government keep plodding along Austin Gatt’s plan of using HFO for the Delimara plant or will common sense prevail by taking up the environmental impact assessment’s and environmental NGOs’ suggestion, and use diesel fuel, thus cutting down on emissions and hazardous waste, until the plant’s final conversion to a gas-fired one?

Obviously, there is still a year to go, ample time for a couple of U-turns and a few sharp unexpected turns, but let’s hope, for our sake, that this time we get it right.