The government will soon announce its intention to convert the new Delimara power station extension to run on gas rather than oil, Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat has predicted.
We will be left saying about time
In a radio interview aired yesterday morning, the Opposition Leader lambasted the government’s electricity generation policies and decried the “fascist tactics” he claimed were being used to frighten workers.
“This government blames rising oil prices for our high electricity tariffs, which begs the question: why then didn’t they opt to run the new power station on gas?” asked Dr Muscat, saying the government’s dilly-dallying on the issue had cost the country several years and millions of euros. “Mark my words, the government will switch to gas soon and we will be left saying about time.”
A Finance Ministry spokesman later brushed the assertion aside, saying the government had always said the power station would be converted to gas “once the required infrastructure was available”.
Dr Muscat struck a sardonic note when offering his analysis of the government’s electricity tariff policies.
“When oil prices rose, tariffs rose. When oil prices fell, tariffs rose anyway.”
He reiterated what has perhaps become the PL’s signature promise: the lowering of electricity tariffs “through private sector involvement and technological advances”.
Carbon storage – “which the Prime Minister knew about but chose to completely ignore” – was only one of the options available to the government, Dr Muscat said.
He claimed that there were at least two other “very real” technological opportunities worth exploring, although he did not elaborate any further – “because he doesn’t know how to lower tariffs”, a Finance Ministry spokesman later said.
The Opposition Leader had harsh words for employers and managers who he said were trying to scare workers into not voting for the PL, describing such attempts as “fascist tactics”.
Asked about problems inherent to a 2007 doctors’ collective agreement, criticised by the existing as well as two previous health ministers, Dr Muscat said that the issue was symptomatic of a predilection to sign collective agreements just before elections.
“We need to put a stop to governments in their twilight loading future governments with collective agreements which they had nothing to do with. These agreements should be finalised within the first two years of a legislature, otherwise we’ll never be able to plan things properly.”
He insisted the four-week parliamentary recess announced last week was overly long. “How can you justify spending €80 million on a new Parliament and then have MPs meet three times a week for three hours at a time, with a one-month holiday for Christmas, another month off for Easter and then recess throughout summer? I find it embarrassing.”
The Opposition Leader ended the interview on a somewhat mischievous note. If the PL were to be elected, he said, he would invite Lawrence Gonzi to preside over the opening of the new Parliament.
A PN statement dismissed the impish proposal as vacuous, saying that it proved once again how Dr Muscat had no idea of what to do if he were to be trusted with the reins of government.
It also challenged the Opposition Leader to come clean on what it termed his “contradictory promises”, saying he should make public the promises he has made to developers.