Opposition leader Simon Busuttil this morning urged the Prime Minister to ditch his plan to have a permanently-moored gas tanker in Marsaxlokk Bay, saying this was part of an “unnecessary” new power plant.
“If the Prime Minister wants to act like a statesman and not a salesman, he has a final chance to avoid such risk,” Dr Busuttil said while addressing a political activity at the Luqa PN club.
His appeal came hours before power station operator Electrogas announced the tanker had arrived in Maltese territorial waters.
Dr Busuttil said that the Prime Minister was endangering people, just to have his own way. “This is an irresponsible and cowardly act,” he remarked.
READ: Gas tanker arrives in Maltese waters
He noted that having such a large tanker in a busy port posed certain risks, but government did not want to publish safety studies. He asked what measures would be in place in case of inclement weather, a fire or a collision with another maritime vessel.
Assurances given by Minister Without Portfolio Konrad Mizzi meant little, Dr Busuttil said, with the Cabinet member having lost all credibility following the Panama Papers scandal.
“We will hold you personally responsible for any consequences as you did not heed the warnings,” the PN leader said.
Dr Busuttil noted that the Prime Minister was trumpeting the achievements of the PN government, saying that the 25 per cent reduction in electricity rates was due solely to the interconnector and the BWSC plant.
Moreover, he said that in the next Budget, set for Monday week, the government would announce a further electricity price cut, in an attempt to gain the people’s support for the new power plant and deflect criticism.
He added that if the government was really intent on reducing the energy burden on the people, it could have already reduced tariffs by much more due to the drop in oil prices and the low cost of electricity being purchased from the interconnector, which recent NSO statistics showed had accounted for more than 70 per cent of electricity generation.
Dr Busuttil also raised a number of questions on the energy sector.
Why is the government still forging ahead with the new power plant if this is not needed? Why was such decision taken even before the PL had been elected to power? Why did the government commit itself to buy electricity for 18 years from Electrogas [the consortium building the new power plan] at 10c per unit when it could do so for 6c per unit via the interconnector?Why did the Prime Minister accept a “take or pay” agreement whereby he would still purchase the energy even when not required?
“What fool would agree to such conditions?” Dr Busuttil asked.
Commenting on a story published in Malta Today involving money laundering allegations against PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami, Dr Busuttil said that these claims had already been denied by Dr Fenech Adami. He noted this was among several stories which the government had "leaked" to the newspaper.
Dr Busuttil said the allegations were nothing more than an attempt to deflect attention away from the gas tanker criticism being levelled at the government. He also questioned the timing of such revelation, saying that if the government was really intent on fighting corruption, the story would have surfaced previously, given that it referred to events in 2013.