PM Joseph Muscat should put the interests of residents in the south of Malta before all other considerations, Nationalist Party leader said in Birzebbuga today.

With his stubbornness to have a floating gas storage tanker in Marsaxlokk he is going against the request of 91 per cent of the residents in the area, he added.

In his haste to maintain his pre-election promises, PM Muscat is ignoring what he is being told by independent experts, the ship’s captain, Freeport officials and residents in the area. Worse than this, he is taking decisions that compromise safety, he said.

The PM has other solutions that he cannot continue to ignore, such as the storage of gas in a floating terminal outside the bay, which is the preferred option of experts and residents.