A new Labour government would immediately start working to change the new power station to be built at Delimara from one which worked with heavy fuel oil to one that used cleaner, less damaging technology, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said this morning.
Speaking during an activity in Fgura, organised by the Forum Zghazagh Laburisti, Dr Muscat said Labour would find the money for this in the same way the present government had found the money for a new Parliament, a roofless theatre and a loan to Greece.
Dr Muscat said that the new power station would be generating 31 tonnes of dangerous waste daily. What safeguards were to be taken? Were there any fall back plans?
A similar power station to that being set up at Delimara, he said, had recently exploded in Mauritius. He hoped that Enemalta technicians had asked BWSC for a detailed technical report as to what led to the explosion. He also hoped this explosion would be given due consideration by Mepa when it came to decide about the power station on Thursday.
Dr Muscat also noted that there were noise problems as a result of a power station which was operated on heavy fuel oil in Mombasa, Kenya.
The Labour leader said that a study showed a relation between the incidence of lung cancer to the distance to the Marsa power station.
The government had not kept several promises to close this station but it was now being made to do so by the EU.
However, to solve this problem it could be creating an even bigger one with the new Delimara station, which was a bad environmental decision.
“Our families are not guinea pigs on whom we can experiment,” Dr Muscat said.
He said that according to a study, asthma among Maltese children had exploded from nine per cent in 1995 to 15 per cent in 2003. The link between respiratory problems and pollution was confirmed. Lung cancer was also mainly caused by smoking and pollution.
Where were the studies on the impact of the new power station on health, Dr Muscat asked.
He said that the government was arguing it would sent the power station back if this was not successful.
Would this not put the provision of electricity at risk? The right decision should be taken from the very beginning, he insisted.