Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil pledged that a Nationalist Party (PN) government would purchase energy from the cheapest supplier, despite the Labour Party (PL) government’s commitment to buy energy for 18 years from the Electrogas.

Dr Busuttil was addressing a political activity this morning in Attard, where he discussed the PN’s energy proposals.

He pledged that a PN government would reduce the price of petrol and diesel by five cents, and that throughout the PN’s legislature, it would keep prices below the EU average.

Dr Busuttil remarked that the government was stealing from the people over the past four years, because the international price of oil had plummeted, and this reduction was not passed down to consumers.

The removal of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanker would be a PN government’s priority, as will working on a gas pipeline connecting Malta with Sicily. Dr Busuttil said that the previous PN government had already planned for this pipeline, and that time was wasted in the past four years by no progress being made in this regard.

 He pledged that Malta would deliver on its EU 2020 goal to have 10 per cent of energy production come from alternative sources, such as using available technology to generate solar power from roads.

A study would be commissioned and a call for expression would be issued in order to ascertain the best available technology for this pledge.

He said a PN government would achieve the EU 2020 climate goals and that commercial entities would be given fiscal incentives in the form of tax credits to turn the roofs of their properties into green areas.

A PN government would also introduced a concept known as ‘solar rights’, meaning that anybody who invested in solar panels for their roofs, but because of a neighbouring development has had their property blocked from the sunshine, would receive compensation for this.