Greens to convene protest outside Parliament over blackout crisis

ADPD, the Green Party, has called for a protest outside the House of Representatives on Thursday evening, over the blackouts crisis prompted by nationwide power cuts.

“It is evident that the country is on its knees due to continuous power cuts. This means a huge burden on families and businesses. Everyone is affected, but the most affected are the vulnerable who are already crushed by inflation and wages that do not meet their basic needs,” ADPD chairperson Sandra Gauci said.

“Instead of costly massive projects and an economic policy based on overdevelopment and speculation, which led to an overburdened and inadequate infrastructure we demand a wellbeing economy. Corruption in the energy sector has led to expenditure on a power station and abandonment of the electricity distribution network.”

The Greens said expansionary planning had increase the demand for energy on infrastructure by as much as 20 times, through planning largesse and permits for apartment blocks.

Gauci said the government’s economic drive for unbridled development and cheap labour, coupled with the effects of the climate crisis, had exposed Labour’s failure to act over the last decade.

ADPD announced 10 policies that include a moratorium on big developments, zero-carbon builds, energy co-ops running RE plants,  revision of the building boundaries, and obliging industries to move towards zero carbon operations.

“We need to shift Malta to a wellbeing economy, one that is not based on the excessive use of natural resources, the exploitation of people, and dependence on imported energy,” ADPD said.

Deputy chairperson Mina Jack Tolu encouraged the public and all those impacted by the power cuts to sign a petition with ADPD’s 10 concrete actions which will be delivered to energy minister Miriam Dalli. “It is important to urge the government to take the energy crisis seriously, within a contest of an ecological and social transition towards a zero-carbon economy. The Green New Deal is there to support this transition. We need to see the political will from the government which so far has been lacking.”

ADPD expressed solidarity with the Enemalta workers who had become victims of a situation it said was down to the carelessness of ministers and the government.