Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said today that the government was working on new schemes to assist people tackle their power bills.
He said that while many people were having their bills reduced through assistance that they were given to install photovoltaic panels, people, who lived in apartments, could not do likewise. The government , therefore, was considering the setting up of a photovoltaic farm to generate electricity.
People who did not have the possibility of installing photovoltaic panels at their homes would be invited to become shareholders of the photovoltaic farm and benefit from its returns.
He said that the people would also benefit from the reduction in generation costs which would come about when the interconnector to Italy and the power station extension were commissioned.
He stressed that all eight engines in the Delimara power station extension could be switched on immediately, but the government was insisting that the turbine which used the steam from those engines should also be operational, before it accepted the handing-over of the extension.
Earlier in his address, in Mqabba, Dr Gonzi said that the Labour Party's efforts to strike people off the electoral register showed how that party had not changed, and would not change.
Dr Gonzi said the PN always believed that everyone should have the right to vote and be able to vote.
Voting was a serious matter and the people could not afford to make mistakes.
It was worrying, he said, that the PL was doing its best to strike off the electoral register Maltese who were working abroad, studying abroad or staying abroad even for medical reasons.
"The PL is about making heads roll. It is carrying out an audit, even in the eligibility of voters," he said.
He noted that Labour MP Helena Dalli had said that a Labour government would carry out an audit of the public service, which, Dr Gonzi said, meant that the PL was declaring as of now that it would check out the workers, their political colour and what families they came from.
Indeed, he said, this audit was being carried out already with regarding to voters, showing how the PL had not changed and would not change.