The gas tanks installation in Birzebbuga and the Delimara power station chimney would be dismantled and the Marsa power station closed down by the end of this legislature, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this morning.

Speaking in Rabat, the Prime Minister also called the Opposition leader a liar for statements he made on Xarabank last Friday that contracts he had been given from the Rural Affairs Ministry were not by direct orders.

“The Opposition leader lacks the credibility and credentials to be believed if he is ready to lie publicly,” Dr Muscat said.

He said that following Simon Busuttil's statement he checked and verified that his company had been given €421,000 worth of contracts, most of which by direct order from this ministry.

Dr Muscat spoke at length on electricity and Enemalta and said that the removal of the Delimara chimney would also mean the removal of the silent killers being transmitted out of it.

Dr Muscat said that a million tons of fumes and dust a year being emitted out of this power station were not being collected.

These emissions, he said, would stop for good with the new technology as gas was much safer and cleaner.

Dr Muscat spoke about the planned LNG storage tank in Marsaxlokk and insisted that there was no basis to place this offshore.

He said that the government had appointed the EU’s biggest expert who said there was no problem and another Maltese expert said there was more danger in unloading a consignment of petrol than of LNG.

Dr Muscat asked why had the government given permit to a private company to bottle LPG if LNG, which was much safer, was so dangerous.

He said, however, that on the day that Malta would be linked to Europe through the gas pipeline, the storage ship would leave the country.

The Opposition leader should say what he would do if he was in government. Would he remove the tanks? Did he have studies to show that what he was proposing was safer? Who would pay for the difference in costs? Would there be an increase in rate, the Prime Minister asked.

Dr Muscat said that the truth was that the Opposition leader lacked a plan and was only intent on criticising.

He spoke about the situation his government had found Enemalta in - on the brink of bankruptcy.

Its downfall, he said, would have also affected the banks’ credit ratings and sustainability to the detriment of the economy.

What could have happened at Enemalta could have had serious consequences on all, especially pensioners and small savers, he said.

Dr Muscat said that the recommendations to the previous government had been to increase water and electricity rates. And the government had then told the corporation these would be increased after the election.

When the Labour government took over, Dr Muscat said, not a cent on the Delimara power station had yet been paid.

“We are here a year later and I can tell you we have halved the corporation's debt, we doubled economic growth and we will be reducing water and electricity bills this month.”

The government, Dr Muscat said, had opted for a strategic partnership with one of the world’s biggest companies and with the world’s second biggest economy, China.

Labour, he said, had attracted an investor to a loss-making debt-ridden company and made €320 million in the process. “This investment is saving the jobs of Enemalta employees.”

He said that as a result of this partnership, Malta, a country which practically imported everything, would start to export electricity. Maltese workers would also be servicing power stations owned by Shanghai Electric in several countries.

Dr Muscat also spoke on precarious employment and said that employers applying for government contracts had to agree to pay their workers at least €5.78. This would be improving workers' quality of life in a drastic manner.

He said that two employers who had used precarious work conditions would be blacklisted and would not win government contracts for the next two years.

He warned that they would start to frighten workers that they would lose their jobs.

Dr Muscat told the workers:

“There are EU directives that protect you. You should not worry... Do not let your employer frighten you. Instead of with A you will work with B and your pay will go up,” he said.

He ended his speech by calling on the people to help the government be the first to win a majority of votes in an MEP election.