PN group resolves to defend Delimara extension project
Karl Stagno-Navarra
The Nationalist parliamentary group has agreed to defend the government’s position on the Delimara power station, by adopting the argument that there was no other alternative in the face of an energy crisis even though some MPs will express “concern” over the issues raised in the Auditor General’s report.
Ministers Austin Gatt and Tonio Fenech were this week confronted by former energy minister Ninu Zammit, who reportedly took them to task over their input to the choice of Heavy Fuel Oil technology rather than gas for the Delimara power station extension project.
During last Tuesday’s PN parliamentary group meeting, Ninu Zammit stood up and raised a number of questions in the wake of the Auditor General’s investigations into the controversial contract awarded to Scandinavian BWSC.
Zammit reportedly demanded explanations as to what made government go for Heavy Fuel Oil, when the last tender he had issued as minister in 1996 was for a combined-cycle plant, which in fact was installed and is up and running in Delimara.
He also insisted for an explanation into what made Enemalta and government scrap the declared policy for investing in gas plants and instead opt for a Heavy Fuel Oil plant.
According to sources, Minister Austin Gatt – who has since had Enemalta removed from his portfolio – replied that should Enemalta have chosen to go for gas, energy tariffs would have had to increase further.
MPs Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Jesmond Mugliett also intervened in the discussion and expressed their concern over the conclusions reached by the Auditor General.
While Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando stressed that he was “troubled” over a number of issues raised by the Auditor General.
He pointed out that the involvement of consultants Lahmeyer International is especially worrying, given that it seems that “nobody noticed that this firm is blacklisted by the World Bank over corruption issues.”
Contacted by MaltaToday, Pullicino Orlando insisted he would not reveal what was discussed inside the PN parliamentary group, only saying that the government should ensure “all the necessary steps are taken to ensure more transparency and accountability in such situations.”
Another former minister, Jesmond Mugliett, told Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and his fellow MPs during the meeting that he would have preferred if an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) would have been conducted before the technology was chosen.
Mugliett raised the environmental concerns that surround the BWSC contract, namely related to the levels of emissions and the production of tonnes of toxic waste to which Finance Minister Tonio Fenech reportedly replied that it’s the same kind of sludge produced in Europe.”
Fenech admitted that the sludge will be exported to a third world country and negotiations are underway to secure a place where to send it and at what cost.
MaltaToday is informed that during the meeting, Tonio Fenech revealed that local councils around the Delimara area would not be given any equipment to monitor the emissions, but will simply have “access” to a MEPA website that will give details of the monitoring process.
The meeting concluded with the parliamentary group agreeing on a strategy to counter the onslaught by the Opposition over the Auditor General’s report.
MP Franco Debono reportedly did not intervene in this internal debate, notwithstanding his previous tough stand on the matter.
But when contacted by MaltaToday, Franco Debono said that he is “preoccupied” with the Auditor’s conclusions, and that he has asked to be included as a speaker during the parliamentary debate on the PL leader’s motion due to be heard in two weeks’ time.
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