Gas prices are next on the Government’s to-do list as it tries to cut energy costs for families and industry, according to the Prime Minister.
Joseph Muscat blamed exorbitant gas prices and monthly fluctuations on “an obscene” agreement the previous administration had entered into when the Enemalta gas division was privatised five years ago.
He said the private operator that took over was not given incentives to seek the best international price of gas and stock on supplies when the price was low.
“The operator buys the minimum gas supply necessary and the main storage facility is empty,” Dr Muscat said at a meeting at the Auberge de Castille, in Valletta, with a General Workers’ Union delegation led by general secretary Tony Zarb.
The Government has asked the resources authority to review the formula
Dr Muscat said the operator carried the can when things went wrong and derived no benefit when things went well. He said the Government has asked the resources authority to review the formula by which the benchmark price of gas was calculated.
The gas sector was liberalised at the same time that the State gas division was privatised. There are two operators: Liquigas, the heirs of the Enemalta gas division that imports gas and bottles it at a new plant in Bengħajsa, and Easygas, which imports gas already stored in household cylinders.
The sector is regulated by the resources authority and any price fluctuations will have to be approved by it.
This was the second time in as many days that the Government has spoken about gas after Liquigas announced higher prices for household cylinders this week.
Dr Muscat recalled that, in 2008, the then Labour Opposition had opposed the agreement because it was not in the best interest of consumers.
During the meeting with the GWU, Dr Muscat said the Government was committed to close any loopholes employers could exploit to recruit workers on precarious conditions. He was reacting to Mr Zarb’s comment that, despite the Government’s “good” initiative to draw up procurement rules that tried to stamp out precarious work, some employers had found loopholes.
Mr Zarb, who led a high-powered delegation, pledged his union’s support to the Government in its fight against precarious employment.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com