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Simon Busuttil reiterated his promise to cut fuel prices and take the controversial gas tanker out of Marsaxlokk Bay.
Addressed a press conference at Marsaxlokk this morning, Dr Busuttil said the prime minister had not kept his word on the power station.
A large gas storage tanker was moored in Marsaxlokk Bay despite nothing of this sort having been said before the last general election. The same applied to the privatisation of Enemalta, to the detriment of the workers.
Worse still, the new power station was a monument of corruption from which Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi were making money, Dr Busuttil said.
The Malta Independent reported last Friday how the FIAU had investigated reports of kickbacks both in the contract for the 18-year power station gas storage facility, as well as the privatisation of Enemalta.
"Joseph Muscat sold Enemalta and its workers for some people to earn commissions, and the residents of Marsaxlokk and the environs were betrayed and dumped," Dr Busuttil said.
"This was a betrayal of the highest order. The government sold out the people who had voted for it, for personal interests."
Cheaper petrol and diesel
Dr Busuttil said a new PN government would immediately cut the price of petrol and diesel by 5c per litre and keep such prices below the EU average for a full five years.
A new government would buy electricity from the cheapest source. If it was cheaper from the interconnector, it would be bought from there.
The gas storage tanker would be moved out of Marsaxlokk as soon as possible without hindering power supply, and work would immediately start on having it replaced by a gas pipeline. Private investors would be invited to participate in laying the gas pipeline.
Care would be taken to ensure that moving the gas tanker out of the bay would not interrupt power supply. Dr Busuttil said it appeared that the new gas power station, despite its inauguration, was not producing electricity yet but was on cold standby and Malta had adequate energy sources including the interconnector and the BWSC plant.
He pledged that the contracts on the gas tanker and the Enemalta privatisation would be investigated.
Vitals link to Pilatus
Questioned about a Times of Malta report about a Vitals Global Healthcare consultant who had an account at the Ta' Xbiex-based Pilatus Bank, Dr Busuttil said the fact that three hospitals were handed to Vitals in a process which lasted just three months was already enough to raise questions.
More questions were raised not least because the deals involved Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri.
One could see the common denominator in how Mr Schembri, Asad Shukat Ali, and Chen Cheng, the Chinese official who negotiated the Enemalta privatisation to Shanghai Electric, all had connections with Pilatus Bank. All this pointed to the need for a detailed investigation.
It had been reported that the FIAU had said that Pilatus Bank was a money laundering machine. It had put Malta’s reputation at risk, but its licence was not suspended.
Power tariffs
Asked about power tariffs, Dr Busuttil said the first commitment was to immediately reduce fuel prices. However, the new government would also be committed to reduce power tariffs by buying power from the cheapest sources and passing on the savings to the consumers. Other savings could also be in the form of lower costs for electricity meters.
Power tariffs should be cheaper, Dr Busuttil said, because the international oil price had dropped far more than the tariff cuts given by the Muscat government.
Asked whether he would resign if he lost the election, Dr Busuttil said he was of secondary importance and he would consider his position according to what the country required.
However, it was worth pointing out that if Dr Muscat won the general election, instability was likely, particularly if magistrates, decided that current inquiries should develop into criminal proceedings, in which case the Prime Minister would have to resign.