Government, opposition trade barbs over LNG power station judicial protest

The Office of the Prime Minister has accused PN executive president Ann Fenech of “hindering” the environment authority’s consultation process of the LNG power station in Delimara.

The remarks were made in the wake of a judicial protest filed by Marsaxlokk resident and engineer Arthur Ciantar which is calling on the environment authority not to approve the gas power station’s operation permit on Monday.

Assisted by PN executive president Ann Fenech, Ciantar said it was unacceptable that the ERA had only published replies to a number of concerns on the impact assessment on Thursday evening, giving him very little time to analyse the reply and formulate a proper opinion ahead of Monday’s public consultation meeting on the permit.

“This is another attempt by Ann Fenech to hinder and undermine the environment authority’s consultation process. The process had been extended at the PN’s request in what was another attempt to halt the gas power station project,” the OPM said.

In a statement, the Office of the Prime Minister said the Nationalist Party said the judicial protest only sought to further the PN’s “partisan interests” and highlighted how the Opposition did not have a concrete alternative to the LNG power station project.

The government said that the PN had been given 40 days to submit its comments and suggestions, and as a result, it was “disgusting for the Opposition to stoop to such levels, the kind of which never seen in the country.”

This, the government said, was the same party that was caught in the biggest corruption scandal related to the purchase of oil, left families to pay the highest electricity bills in Europe, and “the same party that had bought a power station using the most polluting fuel available from the Yellow Pages.”

However, in a reaction, the Nationalist Party sought to turn the tables on the government, arguing that the OPM’s reaction was tantamount to an “unprecedented fascist attack”.

“This is an action by corrupt people who are ready to attack anyone who does not agree with them,” the PN said.

The Opposition insisted that the judicial protest was an exercise aimed at guaranteeing the rights of residents and business owners in Marsaxlokk.

“This was an unprecedented attack which confirmed how [Prime Minister] Joseph Muscat’s government had stooped to the lowest levels any Maltese government has ever seen. It further highlights how the prime minister is detached from reality and the hardships faced by citizens,” it said.

The PN said that while Dr Muscat and Dr Mizzi would remain focused on secret companies in Panama and the corruption that had taken over Castille, it would continue to defend the weak and help them defend their rights.