Enemalta chairman Alex Tranter’s decision to sort of insinuate or blame Wednesday’s power station failure on sabotage, and not on crass incompetence on the part of Enemalta, is a perfect case of ‘Tranterism’. Of course any suggestion that the former Chairman should resign is not on. Why should anyone be held accountable for all these frequent blackouts? After all Mr Tranter was so much at peace with his conscience that he went ahead with his Thursday trip without batting an eyelid.
So on Wednesday it was not the alarm clock that woke me up. It was an ungraceful neighbour. There was a nationwide blackout, but this time round I really had to thank the neighbour for waking me up, as she has a tendency to walk out on her balcony at around 7am every day to debate the latest news with passer-bys in a voice you just do not want to hear. My cute little radio alarm was as dead as a Dodo. I love my sleep but oversleeping is not something I indulge in.
Waking up late for work is one problem. But not being able to work because there is no electricity is a far worse.
Alex Tranter did not deny that there was sabotage and simply let everyone believe that there could have been foul play. So the next day the rumour was publicised in the Pravda press.
Now, there is no anti-terrorist unit in the police force, but I am sure that the investigative capabilities of the Malta police did come to the sensible conclusion that the allegation of sabotage was based on pure unadulterated ‘spin’. Spin is not a crime. If it was, half of the prime minister’s office would now be in jail.
Instead of admitting that the management of Enemalta is a big ugly joke, we are expected to believe that the Marsa power station blackouts were the result of ‘terrorist’ attacks.
The Marsa power station does not stop functioning because of sabotage but because this utility set-up is an old piece of work run by nincompoops. It’s so old and inefficient that we are now obliged to pay for its deficiencies through insensible tariffs that have hit people’s pockets and worked them up into a frenzy.
Which takes me back to 1987. This was the year God appointed Eddie to lead us into paradise. Well, Eddie, like all the other politicians, made his usual promises and like most politicians he did everything possible to either break them or forget them. One of the promises was that Marsa would be closed down and a new power station would be built to take us into the next century and beyond. He said that, did he not? That the power station in Marsa would close down and with it, the serious health hazard it caused?
Needless to say, the Delimara power station was built but it did not address our energy needs, so Marsa remained operational and with it the tonnes of toxic gases and residues that have done nothing to help our high rate of respiratory diseases, went on.
In the pre-1987 days, the inability of the Mintoffian administration to provide a constant supply of electrical energy was the talk of town and part of Eddie’s harsh criticism. Everyone believed that a new administration and a new power station would address this issue. It was not to be so.
Malta’s energy policy and a blueprint for electrical energy failed to materialise. Just like all the promises about better roads, free health and an income tax cut, electrical supply is something that remains an empty promise.
Minister Austin Gatt, like Alfred Sant, has also applied ‘calculator politics’ to bring in more revenues for a loss-making Enemalta. With no energy policy and no clear understanding of our energy needs, we know all too well that the Marsa power station will not be closed, and that a new extension at Delimara will have to be built.
Tranter knows all this, first as Chairman and secondly as an employee of Zaren Vassallo: the developer involved in the construction of the extension, and therefore the one who will be making millions out of public funds.
The new extension is as controversial as the siting of the original power station at Delimara point. It will produce 30 tonnes of toxic waste daily. Producing 30 tonnes does not seem to be a problem to anyone in government, and neither to Tranter – who by the way will be reminding us that his academic background was in energy matters.
Nor is it a problem to notice that allegations about the extension are very serious; but as in the Tonio Fenech scandal, they were brushed aside by the Prime Minister.
Years from now, I would not be too surprised to see that the production of so much toxic residue would have created a financial burden on Enemalta, as well as a massive environmental problem.
But that is the future, and in the future, Tranter will not be working with Enemalta but reaping the fruit of his double salaries and whatnot; and Austin Gatt will probably be writing his memoirs and eating zalzett at Marsalforn.
We, on the other hand, will still be footing the bill and sustaining a mismanaged power station.
And finally what everyone seems to forget is that this catastrophe at Enemalta comes at a time when the tariff structure will rise again. We tend to blame the political appointees who run these corporations, but as we all know that they are puppets serving the state.
We all know, for example that the Malta Resources Authority supposedly decides the tariff structure. Anyone who believes such crap should really take a close look at the political appointees that are landed to run the show there. Just as Tranter takes orders as a Chairman from his minister, at the MRA we find as chairman a certain Dr Reuben Balzan. His name may mean nothing to most people, but this former Radio101 journalist and militant Nationalist is perhaps the best example why boards and authorities are a real waste of time and space.
They also serve primarily to suck up taxpayers’ money and fill up boardrooms. The real decisions are taken elsewhere in Cabinet, or in Edgar Galea Curmi’s mind or in the minister’s office. Authorities and chairmen give a semblance of independence, but they are a simple excuse to spend more taxpayers’ money.
JPO and the Attorney General Silvo Camilleri has decided to appeal against two MEPA officials linked to the Mistra application. Anyone with any political acumen will immediately appreciate that the AG never acts independently. He looks and sees what the Office of the Prime Minister is thinking. That is my view of things, and I do not believe I am wrong. And throughout his tenure at the AG’s office, Silvio Camilleri has shown himself to be a faithful servant of the State.
More importantly, with this appeal a shadow will remain over JPO and will ruin his chances of any inclusion in a future Cabinet reshuffle – more imminent now with the eventual departure of John Dalli to Brussels, a departure craftily manufactured by Gonzi and Galea Curmi in a clear attempt to get rid of the nuisance they called Dalli.
JPO may not be a clone of the Virgin Mary but considering the void of individuals with IQ in the present government, he would definitely have much to give in terms of drive, ideas and energy. So there you go!
From the archives
2 December, 2001 – La Bidu, la tmiem
Saviour Balzan
When Alfred Sant addressed the nation, he tuned in to his populist wavelength and spouted out promises galore. He was incisive, jovial and full of vigour.
Nevertheless Alfred Sant has a credibility problem. When he talks of a new Labour government one remembers confusion at the helm and though it was not the inferno pictured by the Nationalist PR machine, he was definitely not a star.
Alfred Sant’s premiership will be overshadowed by his decision to end his tenure in office in a record two years. He did this to solve the Mintoff problem.
That perception remains entrenched in most people’s minds. It is attenuated by the fact that when in office, Dr Sant took measures which were unfaithful to the character of a Maltese labourite party. Those steps were not intrinsically wrong – on the contrary, in our view they were correct.
If Dr Sant engaged himself in five years of governance, his reforms may well have been camouflaged by his other achievements. Yet, he committed too many mistakes in his brief term as PM. There were four grave errors in total.
The first was to alienate the militant base and Mintoffian diehards. The second was to freeze Malta’s application to join the European Union. The third was to reform VAT and replace it with an archaic system. And the last was to call an early election.
These images are frozen in the minds of those Maltese who turned their backs on Labour in 1998. The only ones who might have found their way back to Labour’s fold are the militants and the Mintoffian diehards, who will never feel at home in the PN.
This assessment, however unfair it may sound, is probably true. This does not mean that Alfred Sant does not have leadership qualities or political acumen. Additionally, it does not follow that his closest aides are incapable politicians. Far from it, Evarist Bartolo, Karmenu Vella, Charles Buhagiar, John Attard Montalto, Gavin Gulia, Charles Mangion and George Vella are all worthy political masters.
But as things stand, the Sant equation only offers a taste of La Bidu, La Tmiem (no beginning, no end). And unless Labour changes its leadership and its stance on Europe, there is no easy way to win an election.
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Of course any suggestion that the former Chairman should resign is not on. Why should anyone be held accountable for all these frequent blackouts? After all Mr Tranter was so much at peace with his conscience that he went ahead with his Thursday trip without batting an eyelid.
