The government's lack of vision and serious planning for Malta's infrastructure yesterday humiliated the country on the international stage, even during a European sporting competition, the Nationalist Party said Wednesday.

The UEFA Conference League football match between Floriana FC and Kosovo's FC Drita, played yesterday evening at Ta' Qali, had to be temporarily suspended after the Centenary Stadium also fell victim on several occasions to the collapse of Malta's electricity supply system.

Not even an international sporting event was spared from the problem that has now caused severe hardship to tens of thousands of people for almost a week. The Malta Football Association was even forced to issue a statement distancing itself from what had happened and reassuring the public that there was no fault in the stadium's floodlighting system. The problem lay with the electricity supply, which was beyond the Association's control, the PN said.

The Prime Minister's apology yesterday changed absolutely nothing for families, businesses and now even Maltese sport. They do not need the Prime Minister to say sorry. They need serious investment in the electricity network so that power cuts no longer remain the norm every summer.

While a generator at the stadium allowed Floriana FC's international qualifying match to somehow continue, residents in residential areas are either being forced to endure the noise of generators or, where no generator is available, to continue suffering in the heat and facing the serious consequences these power cuts are having, particularly on the most vulnerable.

This is not the Malta that the Maltese and Gozitan people aspire to. A modern country cannot continue relying on generators to keep basic services running, the PN said.

The statement was signed by Graham Bencini, shadow minister for sport.