The Labour Party has accused the Nationalist Party of basing its metro proposal on a 2023 presentation previously discarded by the government, arguing that the Opposition had failed to produce technical studies backing its plans.

In a statement Tuesday, the PL referred to a report by MaltaToday which revealed details from a confidential 2023 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report that envisaged a fully feasible and operational underground metro network within five years.

The confidential document, titled 'Project Hestia,' estimated that three metro lines - Red, Blue and Green - with a network length of 29km would be developed in 5.3 years.

The three underground routes, which covered the central-eastern regions, were defined by Infrastructure Malta and based on population and workplace density.

In a statement Tuesday, the Labour party said that had confirmed it "has not conducted any studies" regarding its transport proposal and instead based its plans on a presentation "discarded by the government in 2023 after further advice and considerations from experts."

It said that the "desktop exercise" had been provided by PwC to the Transport Minister on 19 May 2023 and primarily discussed a "financial model" and "financial assumptions" related to the metro project and how it could generate returns on the concession.

Labour said this showed that "the Opposition did not have and does not have any technical reports like those the government presented a few weeks ago."

The party added that the same presentation indicated that the proposal would raise Malta's debt to 76% of national wealth and increase the deficit to 8.2%, "almost three times the deficit accepted by the Commission."

"In fact, this was the reason why the government had to scale down the project to make it feasible and viable," the statement said.

The party also said that the presentation "was not prepared by an engineering firm but by an audit firm," adding that the report itself referred to "illustrative financial projections."

The statement further said the full report contradicted the PN's proposed five-year timeline, arguing that it "leaves insufficient time for planning permits, environmental permits, and procurement processes."

Labour added that the PwC presentation described the proposal as being in a "preliminary stage" and warned of "risks and uncertainties" related to geology and permitting processes.

"If the Nationalist Party wants to be credible, it should publish its studies that it claims to have conducted instead of copying a presentation that was discarded by the government," the statement said.

"Once again, the Nationalist Party copied and copied badly. It demonstrated its irresponsibility and incompetence," the PL said.