Labour manifesto does not include deadline for gas terminal - Tonio Fenech

Finance minister Tonio Fenech says LNG terminal and power station’s two-year timeframe not pledged in Labour manifesto.

8 February 2013, 12:00am
by Jurgen Balzan

2 min read

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech

Branding Labour's electoral manifesto as "unbelievable," finance minister Tonio Fenech accused the Opposition of having "no idea how much their proposals will cost."

Fenech said Labour's claims on Thursday that its programme cost €732 million had not been backed up by detailed estimates costing each of their proposals, and instead was based on aggregate figures.

Dismissing Labour leader Joseph Muscat's presentation of the party's programme costings, Fenech asked: "How will Labour create new jobs? How will Labour foster economic growth? And how will it keep public finances on a sound footing?"

Yesterday, Muscat played down claims that his party's proposals were not as ambitious as the Nationalists' €1.1 billion programme while explaining that Labour's plans would cost €732 million.
Fenech said Labour's economic projections were based on the European Commission and International Monetary Fund forecasts and claimed that Labour's plans were unfeasible.

"Joseph Muscat claims his projections up to 2017 are based on projections from the IMF and the European Commission, when these selfsame projections are only valid up to 2015 and 2014 respectively... what Labour is saying is unfeasible, because it is based on their own projections."

Fenech also pointed out discrepancies in Labour's claims on economic growth, pointing out that while Muscat projected a 4% growth rate in an inbterview with The Times, MEP and prospective economic minister Edward Scicluna claimed that the best the country could achieve was a 2% growth rate.

Fenech's also laid into Labour's proposal for a 200MW gas power station: the finance minister said the PL manifesto did not lay down any timetable for the completion of the power station and LNG terminal.

"Is Labour no longer binding itself to its two-year programme on the power station? Have they even managed to produced one of their purported 10-year gas purchase agreements?"

Labour's manifesto states that energy bills will be cut by March 2014 for households and by March 2015 for businesses, but it says its conversion of Malta's energy production to natural gas will be delivered "within a stipulate and relatively short timeframe".

Fenech said that out of Labour's 140 proposals on the economy, 97 were already implemented by the current administration, 17 were copied from the PN's electoral programme, 27 were just a wish list and nine proposals were either wrong or disagreeable.

Aided with a LED screen and recorded clips of Labour MP Karmenu Vella's appearance on yesterday's edition of Bondiplus on TVM, Fenech said that the MP who was Labour's manifesto coordinator "had no idea on Labour's manifesto costings."

Speaking on the talk show, Vella could not disclose details of singular projects proposed by Labour, claiming that such details had not been trashed out yet.

"What was he coordinating? The typing?" Fenech said as he hit out at Labour for not committing itself to a balanced budget, as the PN had done in its costings.

Jurgen Balzan was a MaltaToday reported from 2011 to 2017.

More from Jurgen Balzan

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Dear Tonio If we were to judge you by what you did and not what you said than, you should be the last person ON EARTH to call the pot black. Even when you were just the major of B'Kara......you messed all up!! The only things you did very well is to save yourself money when (1) you went along with your son to watch Arsenal with free travel and ground tickets (and most probably accomodation) (2) the work carried out in your own home!! You are very good at taking care of your OWN assets!!

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Hi Tonio , haven't you heard that we are in danger of loosing the energy financial aid for the gas pipeline ? If that happens , do you have an alternative to finance the pipeline ? Can you consider the PL alternative to build a gas terminal ?

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Dak ghax jafu li fl'10 ta marzu ha jaqbad lilek il gas

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"How will Labour keep finances on a sound footing?" That's rich coming from a finance minister who never balanced a budget and whose fiscal forecasts were always a joke. Should we take PN's electoral manifesto as gospel then? Heaven knows, your forecast have always been spot on target. Time to go Tonio.

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I am an employer and have always allowed LEAVE not sick leave when any of my female employees had to stay atnhome to tame carwnof their sick children, but for heavens sake I hope that PL (not PN since tney are the one who will win tbe elections) will not introduce a law that makes no sense at all. O know that government employees abuse the sick leave but private emp,yees of private indusstry do not as they are very loyal and care for their companies. I will vote PL but pleaseeeee

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The DEADLINE for you, GonziPN and the KLIKKA is 9 March 2013

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Dear Tonio, unlike you Joseph Muscat has put his own position at stake if targets are missed. I understand, however that you cannot quite understand this as it is alien to your way of thinking. And BTW why isn't the gaspipeline mentioned in your manifesto?

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Tonju, you had your chance, and you obviously blew it. If you do not believe that, just refer to S&P, IMF & EU statistics. Or better still, ask the Maltese citizens for their candid opinion. Now, Malta would like to try a different, fresher approach, which hopefully will hurl Malta into the 21 St century, socially and politically. In addition to, during the first term in office, the new administration will steady the weak foundations it will inherent from your GonziPN administration, and concurrently start the long road to rebuilding Malta's secure financial future. Later, in the second term, it will advance growth projections more aggressively. This is normal in life. First you work to stop the decline, and you work very hard if the decline is steep as in Malta's case. Then you move aggressively forward with all pistons pumping. Bye Bye Tonju. TIME UP! GAME OVER!

Mark Fenech •

Meta xi darba Tonio Fenech jirnexxilu li jqabbel l-attwali ma l-istimi tieghu stess, allura mbaghad forsi xi hadd jiehdu bis-serjeta. Dan l-istess bniedem li qatt ma jrnexxilu jqarreb l-estmi tieghu ma l-attwali, l-anqas meta kien jitkellem f'Novembru dwar il-budget ta' 2013, ma kien kapaci jghidilna x'sejjer jigri fix-xaghrejn li kien baqa. Ghadu sa issa ma harigx kif ghalqet is-sena finanzjarja 2012. Dik effizzjenza.

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Dear Tonio, before asking questions to others why don`t you start by answering such questions as "Why did you come out with so much anger against Labour Gas proposals?"....was it wrong priorities of your government or pressure from the oil lobby?.....Also "what is the financial basis of your projection for spending 1.1bn in the PN manifesto? Was it just assumptions propelled by the energy of a substantial pay rise to the ministers. Hon. Minister I read your manifesto and its basis is just wishful thinking.

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This is the best that GonziPN can come up with- a tiny bit of nit picking. Totally predictable, I suppose.

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Sur Tonio Fenech jekk il-manifest tal-Labour ma fih xejn go fih hemm haga wahda biss li tispikka fih li dan se jibda jigi attwat mid-9 ta' Marzu li gej li jfisser li inti u shabek daqshekk se taghmlu fil-power hemm fuq. Il-Manifest tal-Labour ghalina diga fih id-dawl u ibqa zugur li l-progetti kollha flimkien li qed iwieghed il-Labour mhux ser imorru zmerc biex jitwettqu daqs kemm intom mortu zmerc f'bicca triq milli ghamiltu. Jiena nahseb li qed tersaq lejn l-irdum u mwerwer li se jkollok taqa' go fih ghax il-poplu xabbajtuh.