The Malta Resources Authority has ensured that Enemalta’s return on capital employed would be enough for its borrowing requirements provided this debt did not increase. Reduced utility rates could put Enemalta at the risk of insolvency.
Speaking during the debate on the financial estimates of his ministry, Resources Minister George Pullicino said that the government would look into the proposal made by Sargas but would only buy under a transparent public process. He noted that this technology used oil, coal and waste adding that one had to see how emissions would be cleaned before being released into the atmosphere. He accused the Labour governments of the 1970s of buying a second-hand power station from Sicily instead of investing in renewable energy.
The government was also exerting diplomatic pressure on the Italian government to give the necessary permits by March for work to start on the interconnector with Malta.
Minister Pullicino said that nearly 5,500 families had invested in the photovoltaic panels, obtaining a grant of €16 million for a total investment of €33 million. The government was granting the subsidy to all applicants. He said families would start receiving credits on electricity feed in tariffs. A scheme allowing for a maximum subsidy of €1,000 for roof insulation would be launched next year.
He called on the opposition to pronounce itself on its plans to implement the polluter-pays principle. He said that 1,400 tons of waste had been exported from the Sant’Antin recycling plant while €2.7 million worth of recycled waste had been sold by last June.
The family park and visitors’ centre in Marsacala was nearing completion. Some 3,000 old cars had been scrapped while 2,000 tons of electronic waste had been collected by Wasteserv.
Tenders for the rehabilitation of the Magħtab and Tal-Qortin landfills costing €11 million and €5 million respectively would be issued during this month and in January. The government was applying the polluter-pays principle in material which had to be incinerated at Marsa. Contacts with a Sicilian company had been made so that breeders could sell this material to them.
Mr Pullicino said the deadline for applications for oil exploration was in December. The government was waiting for developments in this sector.
The government was also acting on the national flood relief plan. Tenders for underground tunnels in Birkirkara, Żebbug, Żabbar and Marsascala and bridges in Qormi and Marsa would be processed after the planning authority issued permits.
National insurance contributions for full-time farmers and breeders would again be reduced by two per cent and they would also benefit from assistance on their fuel expenses. Work on the vegetable market at Ta’ Qali had started while the St Francis animal sanctuary clinic had catered for 14,000 animals without competing with private veterinary clinics. Plans were finalised for a fish market in Marsa and adjudication of tenders would take place next month.
He also spoke of embellishment and restoration projects in urban and rural zones in various localities.
Opposition spokesman Joe Mizzi said the energy sector was passing through a Gonzi-induced crisis in the energy sector on the pretext of international events.
The sector was the fulcrum of the nation’s competitiveness, profitability and sustainability. Consumer confidence was dwindling and the economy was shrinking because families could not sustain the energy utility bills. The government was using the sector as a revenue earner through direct taxes and excise duty. Suffice to say that these would amount to €1.5 billion this year and were forecast to increase to €1.8 billion. This meant fuel prices and tariffs would increase.
What cost benefit analysis had been made or contracts entered into before the submarine cable project was launched? Mr Mizzi said that since oil exploration had passed under the aegis of Mr Pullicino, nothing had been done even in areas where no dispute with neighbouring countries existed.