Labour MPs had laughed off a statement made by the Nationalist government that “excessive heat” had caused a power cut at the time the PN was in power.

A video that has been uploaded on social media makes a comparison with how One News is reporting the repeated power cuts that Malta is experiencing this summer, with a power cut that had been registered when the Nationalist Party was in government.

The video starts with a news report that was carried by One News these days makes emphasis on the heat wave that Malta is going through, giving it as the main reason behind the repeated and lengthy power cuts that are hitting the islands and other parts of the world. It speaks of the damage that was caused to the underground cables by the high temperatures of the past days.

The video then continues with a report that was carried by One News at a time when a power cut took place when the PN was in government. No date is given.

The report was compiled by Jonathan Attard, now Justice Minister, whose voice is heard introducing the report about the power cut, followed by comments made by then Labour MPs Joe Mizzi and Charles Buhagiar.

Mizzi says that the power cut did not take place because of the high temperature, “as the (PN) minister is saying”.  Buhagiar says that it’s true that tarmac softens in the heat, but “this heat can never be transmissible to the cables beneath”. He added that there is a distance between the surface of the road and the cables underneath. Whoever told the minister that excessive heat is the cause of damage to cables “is not correct” and “it is certain there are other reasons” for damage caused to the cables that led to the power cut.

The video concludes with another slot, showing Miriam Dalli (then a One News journalist, and now the Minister for Energy), asking former Enemalta official Tarcisio Zarb who should be responsible: The answer give is: “When you take everything into account, it is the government”.