The government’s declaration that the publication of a bank guarantee for the building of a new power station would have a negative effect on the Maltese economy was of concern, economy shadow minister Claudio Grech said this morning.
Addressing a news conference, he said it was unacceptable for the government to continue making excuses not to publish the guarantee.
“The concern we expressed in the past weeks grows when we see a clear declaration by the Finance Minister saying that there would be economic turmoil if the guarantee is published,” Mr Grech said.
He stressed that it was in the people’s interest that the €88 million guarantee, made by BOV, was published for the people who know what their taxes were making good for.
He said that the government had also still not published the contract signed with Electrogas.
This was besides the fact that, up to five months before the gas power station had been scheduled to start operating, the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister had insisted that everything was on track.
This was so much not the case that the government had to eventually give the guarantee. It seemed that this was given around the same days that the government had announced the new day of when the gas power station should be completed, Mr Grech said.
Spokeswoman Kristy Debono said the project was dominated by mysteries and underhand dealings.
When the project was announced, she said, the Opposition had insisted that the power could not be built within two years. Time had proved the Opposition right.
Ms Debono raised a number of questions which she said she expected the government to answer to put the people’s mind at rest.
She asked if a due diligence exercise had been carried out before BOV loaned €101 million to Electrogas; what would happen if the European Commission considered the guarantee to be state aid; what was the real reason behind the government decision to take such a major risk; why had the government not said, when the call for expressions of interest was made, that it was willing to give such a bank guarantee; and if the decision had been taken by Cabinet, the Finance Minister on this own, or was it ordered by the Prime Minister.
Ms Debono said that the people had a right for answers because they were the ones paying for the project through their taxes.