Greens hit out at government's 'incompetence' in energy sector

The damage to the BWSC turbine at Delimara and the fact that Enemalta has to switch on again the polluting power station in Marsa confirms yet again the incompetence, lack of planning and carelessness of this government, Alternattiva Demokratika said.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the Green Party said planning for a new power plant was left to the very last minute.

"The problems in the new plant now means that the highly polluting Marsa plant will have to be used for an additional six months even though the 20,000 hours that the Marsa Power Station was allowed to operate had been used up in 2011," AD secretary-general Ralph Cassar said.

He added that the government's lack of preperation in using other sources of energy is symptomatic of an administration which does not have a long term vision in the energy sector.

"Minister after Minister, from George Pullicino to Austin Gatt rubbished anyone who spoke about alternative sources of energy only to realise way too late that something has to be done to wean the country off total dependency on oil - a long process which requires forward planning, something this government is not capable of doing," Cassar pointed out.

AD said that despite all its rhetoric, the government is also very late in implementing the project connecting Malta's grid to Italy by cable.

Cassar, AD's spokesperson on energy added: "The Nationalist government expected to rush through the process for the commissioning of the Delimara power station with no objections from anyone and without any problems."

He said the government did not plan for the phasing out of Marsa Power station even though the Nationalist government had promised the power station would be closed down first in 1995 on completion of the first Delimara power plant, then in 2004, on accession to the European Union.

"The blame for this state of affairs and panic lies squarely on the government and it cannot expect to be given a carte blanche to do whatever it likes because of its incompetence and amateurism in the energy sector," Cassar said.

AD Chairperson Michael Briguglio added: "The people of Marsa, Paola, Hamrun, Valletta, Fgura and many other areas will once again have to suffer due to increased pollution because of this government's incompetence".