Carnival enthusiasts have accumulated some €350,000 in unpaid electricity bills in past years and the government has now intervened to foot the cost, Times of Malta is informed.
Enthusiasts, however, claim the bills were always meant to be paid by the government.
While the government has announced the construction of a €6 million carnival village in Marsa to house workshops, sources close to the Malta Arts Council said the amount goes back decades. The sum has been left unpaid and the government is now trying to conclude the matter.
A Culture Ministry spokeswoman shifted the blame on to the previous administration
Since the 1970s, carnival enthusiasts have been using workshops in various areas around the capital to build their floats.
These workshops, usually derelict warehouses in Valletta’s Fort St Elmo, Floriana and Marsa, included the supply of water and electricity facilities usually owned by the Land Department.
However, although carnival enthusiasts used these facilities all year round, not necessarily on work connected with carnival floats, bills were never paid.
“Some of these workshops were not even given by the Land Department but actually taken over without any title by carnival enthusiasts,” the sources said.
“The workshops were not only used for carnival but also for other activities, including commercial ones such as the assembly of TV sets.
“Still, water and electricity bills were never paid by anyone and things were left to accumulate over the years without any control whatsoever,” the sources said.
Asked to confirm whether the government was now footing the €350,000 in pending bills, a Culture Ministry spokeswoman admitted this was the case and shifted the blame on to the previous administration.
“We were shocked to learn that the previous, Nationalist administration allowed pending electricity bills related to the use of Land Department garages by carnival enthusiasts to amount to €350,000,” she said.
Adding that the bills went back a number of years, the spokeswoman said that “because of the length of time that has passed it makes it very difficult to crack down on possible abuses which might have happened during those years”.
The ministry said the issue was now being tackled by the Malta Arts Council, which was paying all monthly bills while starting to address the €350,000 in pending arrears. According to the ministry, almost half the arrears have already been paid.
Contacted by Times of Malta, carnival director Jason Busuttil said he knew about the problem but carnival enthusiasts had nothing to do with these bills as the properties were owned by the government.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a senior ministry official admitted the previous administration knew about the problem but had let the situation fester and did nothing to tackle the abuse.
“It seems that over the years, various governments failed to tackle the issue and refrained from taking a decision, which would have had the usual political consequences,” he said.
“However, the bills even date back to the 1970s and 1980s, when Malta was run by a Labour government,” the official said.
According to the ministry’s spokeswoman, the arts council is now regulating the use of these workshops and the new carnival village “will include more energy-efficient systems for long-term sustainability”.
It is not yet known whether carnival enthusiasts will be using the facilities at the new carnival village for free, including the use of utilities and services.