The Marsa power station will cease operating by the end of 2015, which will release a considerable tract of land for development, said Enemalta chairman Alexander J. Tranter at a consultation meeting with the Labour Party about the MLP’s regional development plan for Grand Harbour.

Mr Tranter was quoted in an MLP statement as having said the Marsa power station had been operating since the 1960s and this in itself created problems. At the same time, EU directives considered the power plant to be old, so it had to close down at some time or another. By 1 January, the Marsa power station will have 20,000 operational hours left and once it uses these, it will cease operating. By 2015, whether or not it has used those hours, the power station will have to stop operating.

This meant that the country will have a large area of land available for development. Mr Tranter said he felt that, after the power plant has closed down, no development should be allowed there that generated electricity. Today, half the country’s power generation originated at Marsa.

In view of all this, Enemalta intended to enhance the Delimara power station, while the possibility was explored of a cable link with Sicily.

Grand Harbour was one of the most beautiful ports in the world and had development opportunities, if used properly.

The Labour Party also had a consultation meeting with Bezzina Ship Repair, which has 130 employees. Managing director Victor Bezzina stressed the need for development of areas around Grand Harbour, to improve the country socially and economically.

He said that Malta should expand its maritime services, even by developing more yacht marinas. Marsa power station was a problem, he said, because its pollution kept yachtsmen away.

MLP leader Alfred Sant said the development proposed by the Labour Party for the Grand Harbour area would be spread over a number of years and be built on heavy investment. The plan involved economic, social and cultural aspects. They also needed to develop activities linked to ship repair, yacht building and the cruise liner industry. At the same time they needed to have infrastructural development, including the development of marine transport in Grand Harbour.

Dr Sant met the shipyard’s workers and saw the yacht they had built at Bezzina Ship Repair.