The controversy around the building of a power station running on gas has till now focused on the bank guarantee but little consideration is being given to the urban impact that this new structure will be leaving on this picturesque locality in the south east. Marsaxlokk has become one of the main tourist attractions but risks with this new project losing this privilege and this once pretty fishing village will be changed forever.

All thismight sound extreme and not popular with the reader. Prior to the 2013 elections the present administration presented the power station running on gas as the salvation of the locality. The previous powerhouse was described as a cancer factory – at least this is what we were told.

But instead of Labour embarking on a pledge of removing all the power stations from the area Joseph Muscat took the irresponsible decision of building a new one. It is now clear, that Malta does not need this new power station. The prices of electricity have already gone down irrespective of having our electricity provided by a gas firing plant.

With those who are saying that the only reason why this project is going ahead is for the Prime Minister to save face, I only agree in part. But deep down the reason for such a project isthecomplacency ofgreedy businessmen who incidentally do nothave the necessary finances to build it nor the clout to borrow to go ahead with the project. I am not one who would ask for the Prime Minister’s resignation should this project be abandoned. The foremost moral role of the Prime Minister is to safeguard the common good and precisely for the common good this folly should be dumped.  The Prime Minister should be lauded and not condemned when upholding reason. My interest is the well-being of Marsaxlokk and not useless political quibbling about senseless electoral pledges.

Therefore, in this case any condemnation should not be prompted by the fact that the Prime Minister has not undertaken such a project, thus breaking his word, but for implementing a project that is going to ruin Marsaxlokk.

The silver lining in this whole story lies in the fact that,usually, the residents of this locality are silent or not critical ofLabour. Marsaxlokk is a Labour stronghold. Yet, now they are starting to realize that this whole project is going to ruin their beautiful bay. One only need to have a look at the comments that are being posted on social media to realize that even diehard Socialists (or Laburisti) are beginning to realize that this project is not being constructed in their interests but to accommodate a potential business conglomerate that is in dire financial straits.

Unfortunately, Labour is being taken over by the Neo-Liberal theories of setting aside the interests of the State and the Nation in order to accommodate the personal interests of individuals. As I had explained in my previous blog, this was Ronald Reagan’s policy. In the long term,this policy made the rich richer and the poor poorer. And what about the middle classes, one could rightly ask? Against all political rhetoric they too were impoverished. Therefore, by following these policies,thelocal Labour isbeefing the personal interests of the rich, and the first to suffer will be the middle class that today inhabitsMarsaxlokk. At least, judging from their comments on Facebook, they are starting to grasp that they are going to be the victims of this reckless project by ElectroGas.

The greatest pity is that the Local Council is silent about this whole development. With the construction of a larger quay, that it is taking place under their watch, it is slowly becoming apparent to one and all that the bay is going to be transformed permanently for the worse.

The Prime Minister should have been man enough to take the side of the local residents and safeguarded the good of the nation by abandoning the whole project after realizing that these so-called businessmen had taken him for a ride. This would have spared Marsaxlokk. It is now evident that this power station run on gas is going to be another environmental rape. It is clear also that the powercuts we had in August were not linked to problems in Sicily with the interconnector but were the results of mismanagement from the Malta side.

Let us now hope for the better and that the new gas power station will notbe the victim of mismanagement as this will lead to a greater tragedy that wouldruin the locality of Marsaxlokk forever and would leave a scar on the nation for years to come. The irony is that were such a tragedy is to occur, the powerful lobby and those responsiblewill never be indicted. We can rest assured that the authorities willfind an easy scapegoat, as they found for the many scandals that have inflicted Malta over these past years.