Electricity and water will continue to be charged at current rates under a Labour government while the surcharge will be halved, Labour leader Alfred Sant announced this morning.

He was replying to questions during a tour at Marsa industrial estate.

To date the Labour Party had only said that the surcharge would be cut by half.

Dr Sant also announced that under Labour, the Office of the Prime Minister will take charge of the promotion of alternative sources of energy, an area where, he said, no progress had been made under the present government.

Dr Sant made his comments after a visit to Solar Systems Ltd, a company which produces equipment for the production of energy from renewable sources.

The Labour leader listed promises made over the years by the PN to raise the use of alternative energy sources and said none of them had been kept. The government was nowhere near to achieving the EU target of having 5% of power produced from renewable sources by 2010, he said.

Dr Sant also promised investment on modern power generating plant at Enemalta as well as investment to encourage people to use renewable sources of energy.