Environment impact assessments on three wind farm sites – two on land and one at sea, were to be embarked upon in the coming days, the Resources Ministry said.
In a statement this evening, the ministry accused the opposition of taking on the role of a journalist “criticising blindly without knowing what is happening”.
Referring to a statement issued by the Opposition’s environment spokesman Leo Brincat in the morning, in which Mr Brincat called on the government to declare what were its alternatives to is-Sikka l-Bajda, should this site be found not viable for a wind farm, the ministry said Mr Brincat knew that the government had applied with Mepa for studies to be embarked upon on three wind farm sites.
The process, the ministry said, was open, public and transparent. The sites were chosen for their typology and indicative wind profiles, but more detailed studies needed to be carried out.
The government would act according to the results of the studies, in line with serious procedure. It first identified sites, now it will be carrying out studies.
Did the opposition expect geological studies to be held all around the country using the people’s money, it asked.
The ministry said the government was working so that by 2020, 10 per cent of the country’s electricity generation would come from clean sources.
For this to be possible, it had to exploit all solar resources, including the sun, wind and waste.
Contrary to the opposition, the government had always been clear in its direction.
The ministry said that the government had always retained its position that a wind farm in Gozo would be incorporated in the eco-Gozo project.
It was the opposition which was inconsistent and, as soon as the wind farm sites were announced, its leader went to Bahrija frightening the people that wind farms would damage the aquifer.
This was when it was Mr Brincat himself who wrote, repeatedly, that the government should consider installing a wind farm at Bahrija. The opposition’s inconsistency could continue to be seen in its statement this morning, it said.
The ministry said it was the opposition’s turn to declare which sites should be chosen following a statement by MP Roderick Galdes in July 2008 that a group of experts had collected enough information for the opposition to draw up a strategy.
The government’s position, the ministry said, was clear and public.
The studies would also be made public once they were concluded.
The government, in a serious and responsible manner, was continuously working for the country to generate clean energy to safeguard the environment and the peoples’ health, it said.