Parliament reconvened on Monday to continue discussing the Enemalta Corporation financial estimates. Labour spokesman on Enemalta and oil-exploration Joe Mizzi led the charge, hitting government over a number of alleged cover-ups.

Mr Mizzi said that two turbines at the Delimara power station, each rated at 60 megawatts, have been out of action for some time – one since August last year – and that their absence will seriously affect the supply of power this summer. Quoting Enemalta’s Electricity Generation Report, Mr Mizzi said that the peak summer load is expected to reach 450 megawatts. At the same time, the report states that if one 60 megawatt turbine is out of action, the expected combined output of the Marsa and Delimara power stations will peak at 435 megawatts. This means, he said, that even if one of the ailing turbines has come back on line by then, production will still fall short by 15 megawatts.

The Labour MP also pointed out that while the same report recommends that a minimum reserve of 120 megawatts be kept, it also says that “based on the expected growth in demand, the reserve capacity available after the summer of 2007 will be less than 60 megawatts, which means that in the event of a fault in one of the large units during the summer months, a shortfall in generation capacity will lead to power outages, possibly in large areas on the islands.”

The opposition whip also mentioned inconsistencies in the accounts presented. He claimed that the faulty turbine will cost Lm1 million to repair, a sum that is not included in the estimates. Also missing is the amount covering the maintenance of the other 60 megawatt turbine. Even more blatant an omission, said Mr Mizzi, is the immediate investment of Lm200 million demanded by the Generation Report.

Pointing out further contradictions in the government’s stance, Mr Mizzi said that whenever the Prime Minister is faced with negative reports, he wriggles out of them by saying that the economy has expanded faster than predicted when the Delimara power station was designed. However, continued the Labour spokesman, in a recent Enemalta statement, the CEO had said consumption has actually fallen by 0.1 per cent.

Mr Mizzi said that the Delimara plant has failed to deliver on many of its promises, not least the production of energy without harming the environment. On the contrary, too much pollution is being generated, and it is going to cost Enemalta so much to cope with it that government now has to build a new power station. So that it does not get caught red-handed, alleged the MP, Enemalta has conveniently claimed that the air-monitoring apparatus is out of action, “forcing the people of Malta and Gozo to

swallow air-borne carcinogenic particles.” The use of reserve open-cycle gas turbines is also causing harm, since these produce pollutants at a higher rate, apart from being inefficient and costing twice as much to operate.

The high costs of inefficiency, said Mr Mizzi, are being born by the citizens. Power bills have escalated to the point where some people are taking out bank loans in order to pay them. It is high time that government introduces efficient practices, Mr Mizzi said, suggesting that only appliances that are certified as being energy efficient should be allowed on the market.

The government always blames the lower workers for inefficiency, said Mr Mizzi, and never the management. As an example of inefficiency by the latter, the opposition spokesman referred to the case of the “faulty” gas cylinders a couple of years ago. The Labour MP alleged that the cylinders had been left to rot in a yard, and that the tender was given to a blue-eyed boy who charged an extra Lm100,000. The government tried to cover this up, said Mr Mizzi, by framing two engineers and dragging them through hot coals. And yet, after the case filed abroad was withdrawn, and the engineers had to be taken back because no charges of wrong-doing could be placed in their laps, no apology had been forthcoming.

Minister for Investment, Industry and Information Technology Austin Gatt, replied to Joe Mizzi’s speech by saying that the gas cylinder case was an unfortunate one, and definitely not a cover-up. The minister explained that the cylinders had been checked by a renowned engineer and found to be below standard, and therefore the minister decided not to take the risk. Only later did it transpire that the tests carried out by the engineer were not the same as those specified in the tender agreement. The minister took full responsibility for his actions, and had apologised to the two Enemalta employees concerned “for having put them through a very difficult time”.

Rebutting Mr Mizzi’s claims regarding the power reserve capacity, Dr Gatt said that with the two 60 megawatt turbines out of action, reserve capacity was at 130 megawatts. The second turbine had been overhauled during the winter, because the season had been mild and demand for power was quite low. We will need more capacity, said Minister Gatt, but in two or three years’ time.

As to the missing figures in the estimates, Dr Gatt said that maintenance and repair fees are either included in the maintenance agreements, or will be specified when the work is completed, whereas the Lm200 million will feature in their respective budgetary report, the one for 2007-2008.

Dr Gatt also denied that the air-monitoring equipment had been switched off maliciously.

The estimates were passed, with 25 ayes against 21 nays, and parliament was adjourned until yesterday.