Water and electricity bills should be worked out in a way that reflected what was happening in the world while encouraging people not to waste, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.

He said increasing oil prices could not be ignored and neither could it be solved by not raising the electricity tariffs. "That is a mistake," he said, adding that someone had to pay for oil.

Addressing a political activity at the Nationalist Party's Birkirkara club, Dr Gonzi said that over the past months energy consumption had dropped by about eight per cent, which showed that people were being more careful. The energy-saving bulbs distributed by the government had made a difference in people's bills.

Dr Gonzi highlighted the importance of Malta not depending solely on one source of energy production because there could be very serious repercussions if something went wrong. In fact, a number of countries had faced major problems at the beginning of the year when Russia closed the gas pipeline, with some factories even being forced to close down.

"We need gas turbines, photovoltaic and wind," he said.

Asked how the government would be financing its energy projects, including the interconnector between Malta and Sicily, Dr Gonzi said a technical explanation would be given shortly.

He stressed the importance of the submarine cable between Malta and Sicily, which could also be used to sell any excess energy produced, even by private investors involved in wind farms.

He said the Labour Party was trying to make the people forget the global financial crisis. The PL always feared change. "Had we listened to them, we would be as backwards as countries in a nearby continent," he said, referring to African states.

However, he said, certain decisions needed to be taken, including reforms in various sectors.

Dr Gonzi pointed out that, although there were people who had lost their jobs, Malta's unemployment rates were among the best among the 27 EU member states.

Regarding illegal immigration, Dr Gonzi said he received e-mails which he was embarrassed to even read.

"Let us not forget that these are people like you and me," he said, appealing to the opposition to also pass on the same message.