Gas terminal fulfils shorter time-frames country needs – PL [video]

Labour has opted to go for a natural gas terminal over a gas pipeline because the €360 million investment can be carried out within the time-frame the party says the country needs to see its energy bills level reduced.

Visiting a school in Isla, where Labour leader Joseph Muscat was greeted enthusiastically by parents from the working-class harbour town, Muscat said the LNG terminal did not exclude the construction of the gas pipeline - which requires EU funds to be constructed.

"The government's pre-application study for the pipeline also includes a terminal - the pipeline only substitutes the source of fuel. We structure our plan to include the pieline.

"We saw that when government pursued that option there were bureaucratic problems from Italy, a problem not caused by government."

Muscat also replied to claims that Labour's plan was offering an overcapacity of over 700MW, saying he was not forecasting a slowdown in the economy.

Reacting to finance minister Tonio Fenech's claims of a "gas" bomb - a reference to two gas tanks located by the planned regasification unit as projected by Labour - Muscat asked whether this meant that the same threat existed at the Qajjenza bottling plant. Muscat added he was however sure that the private company who owns the Qajjenza terminal had taken all necessary precautions.

Muscat today is expected to launch other proposals during the day, including issues related to precarious workers and the position of women in society.