Joseph Micallef says a regeneration plan had been promised to compensate for the fact his village is now the sole source of Malta’s power supply. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Upset that the government has yet to compensate Marsaxlokk for hosting all power plants in its backyard, Labour mayor Edric Micallef did not attend the switching-off ceremony of the Marsa power station.

Mr Micallef, who will not contest the April 11 councils election, however, denied speculation he had broken ranks with the party. In fact, his intention was to run for the next general election on the Labour ticket.

He was asked to comment on an e-mail he sent to Enemalta CEO Frederick Azzopardi three days before the glittering ceremony at the Marsa facility on March 9.

The 38-year-old architect informed Mr Azzopardi he did not feel it would be right for him to accept an invitation to attend.

“As Marsaxlokk mayor I would have felt out of place celebrating the fact that all power stations would now be in our village,” Mr Micallef said.

Following the closure of the Marsa plant, all of the island’s electricity generation is now dependant on the Delimara power station in Marsaxlokk and the Sicily interconnector.

A new gas-fired plant, adjacent to the existing facility, is under construction. Though this will pave the way for the conversion to a cleaner form of fuel, it will necessitate a permanently-moored gas tanker to supply both plants with LNG.

Mr Micallef noted that, at a Cabinet meeting held in Marsaxlokk in July 2013, compensation in the form of a regeneration plan had been promised.

I would have felt out of place celebrating that all power stations are in our village

“This would involve better traffic management, more pedestrianised zones and better parking facilities,” he said. He expressed disappointment that, after commissioning architect Edwin Mintoff to come up with the plan, the process had stalled, possibly due to an issue with the monti hawkers.

In his letter to the Enemalta CEO, Mr Micallef complained that, for some reason, the plan that had been tasked to the energy ministry had “fizzled out”.

He also took a dig at Enemalta expressing the hope that his successor would have the opportunity to be invited by the company to witness something “positive” it would decide to do in Marsaxlokk.

Asked to clarify, Mr Micallef noted that, since the opening of the original Delimara plant in the early 1990s, Enemalta had done nothing to support the community. His call was for more corporate responsibility by Enemalta, through some form of sponsorship or by taking active part in the promised regeneration plan, Mr Micallef added.

As for his decision not to contest the April 11 local elections, he said: “After a 14-year stint as councillor, during which I served as mayor for seven years, I feel I need to move on and focus on my candidature for the 2018 general election.”

He said his decision not to seek re-election as mayor had been communicated to the party last July.