(Adds MLP reaction)

The Nationalist Party has attacked the Opposition's decision to vote against a motion for the transfer of land for the building of a new gas bottling plant at Benghajsa. The vote was taken in Parliament yesterday.

The motion opens the way for the gas bottling plant to be moved from Qajjenza in Birzebbuga, which is a residential area.

Thanks to the government's decision, this part of Birzebbugia will be rehabilitated and embellished, with plans also providing for a promenade, the PN said.

It was regrettable, the party added, that Opposition leader Joseph Muscat, in his first vote in the House, had voted against a measure which would mean a better environment for residents of Qajjenza.

Furthermore, the MLP had shown how it had remained consistent with its old policy of opposing every privatisation and liberalisation exercise.

The Labour Party in a reaction to the PN statement, said it could not back the privatisation of the Enemalta gas division because the Nationalist government had not taken measures to protect consumers.

As confirmed by the Finance Minister in Parliament, the price of bottled gas was set to rise, but the government did not know what the new price would be. While the government was saying it would help those in need, it had not said how.

The MLP said it had always been clear that it backed the closure of the Qajjenza plant, which the government had been promising since 1994.

But it could not approve an agreement where consumers’ interests were not safeguarded.