Climate Change Committee decided to 'abandon' natural gas when BWSC contract was signed

The government appointed Climate Change Committee abandoned a decision that Malta should generate its energy through natural gas within the next six years at the same time that the BWSC contract was signed.

In a statement, Labour party’s spokesman on environment, Leo Brincat, said that in its first draft, a climate report by the  committee, incorporated an estimate of the investment required for the country to go for natural gas within six years.

But the committee, led by former Enemalta Ceo David Spiteri Gingell, “removed the obligation of going for natural gas and paved the way for the use of a plant operated by other sources of energy, including heavy fuel oil.”

MaltaToday revealed last Friday that shortly after leaving Enemalta as Ceo and chairman of the adjudicating committee that awarded the multi-million euro contract to BWSC, he was “approached” and “contracted” by Vassallo Builders Group who have been entrusted to develop the project.

Leo Brincat said that the decision to abandon natural gas contradicted the specific proposal for the use of natural gas, as highlighted in the national plan for the generation of electricity which had to take the country to the year 2015.

He added that “this plan never mentioned heavy fuel oil as a viable alternative.”

The Labour MP stressed that this issue raises serious concerns when one considered that Spiteri Gingell was now consultant to contractor Nazzareno Vassallo.