Busuttil raises China questions, minister’s wife paid €33,000 as envoy

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil led a vociferous charge on the unannounced employment of energy minister Konrad Mizzi's wife Sai Mizzi Liang as a foreign investment envoy for Malta Enterprise to Asia, where she is expected to be based in a Shanghai office.

Busuttil called for the government to table in the House the contract of employment for Mizzi Liang's appointment, whom he said she was being remunerated at the rate of €2,000 a week.

Mizzi Liang is being paid a Scale 3 salary of €33,000, MaltaToday was informed by the energy ministry.

The Opposition leader questioned what role energy minister Konrad Mizzi's wife Sai Mizzi Liang had in a memorandum of understanding for the Chinese-governmnet owned company China Power Investment to purchase an alleged 35% stake in Enemalta.

"How can it make sense that the minister said his wife was not involved in his energy portfolio, but as government envoy to Asia she is not to touch upon any energy projects? How could it make sense to pay his wife a foreign envoy's salary, to have entered into such an unnecessary conflict, when this government is now limiting what sort of investment she can attract to Malta?" Busuttil asked.

The Opposition leader criticised the government, for having omitted to mention in its electoral manifesto that it would privatise Enemalta.

"You have no electoral mandate and you are going to ignore your own manifesto... we agree with privatisation in principle and we are not averse to doing business with China, but does this mean we cannot criticised or make the necessary questions we must put given the lack of information?" Busuttil asked.

The PN leader asked what guarantees could the government have on price stability on energy and water production, when under a proposed framework for a new gas plant, it will be a private company that will not just build the gas plant but also purchase and supply the gas to Enemalta.

Busuttil said that with the part-ownership of Enemalta under the Chinese, the Maltese government's stake will amount to less than 35% when gas supply will be in the hands of a private operator.

"The Chinese will be serving their government's interest and not Malta's, and this is something that government is today taking it lightly. We are risking seeing the government controlling just one-third of its energy production operation."

In a series of related questions, Busuttil also enquired about the manner in which the China MOU had been reached. "Why was it carried out behind our backs? Did negotiations start before the elections? And how did the prime minister find time to inform even the EU, but not the Opposition or this House?"

Busuttil also asked whether it was the Chinese or Malta that made the initial approach. "I want to know whether the government's strategy is simply that of selling off a stake in a public corporation whenever a foreign government simply makes an approach. And what is the value of Enemalta's stake that is for sale - does it even consider the fact that the Chinese will get a foothood in the EU's solar panel market, which is worth billions of euros?"