One basic test for any economy, is whether businesses can open their doors every morning with confidence, workers can carry out their jobs without disruption, and families rely on the basic services that any modern country should guarantee. Over the past weeks, sadly, Malta has failed that test, quite spectacularly.

The repeated power cuts experienced across the country have dealt a serious blow to the confidence of our economic operators, during the most crucial weeks of the year. Entrepreneurs, SMEs, self-employed workers and employees alike, know exactly the hardships that the power outages have unleashed on their operations, all because of the gross incompetence and lack of planning of the Government.

Over the past days, I have made it a point to be as close as possible to the people who are being affected by these outages directly. That is how I have met and spoken to people running businesses that involve large volumes of stock that needs to stay frozen or refrigerated. The past days, for them, have spelt disaster as they have literally found themselves pouring thousands of euros into their dustbins.

I have spoken to businesspersons whose entire operation depends on stable connectivity, only to find themselves staring at a blank screen, unable to serve their clients. Restaurant owners, who had to close their doors, and call their booked customers to cancel reservations. Small and medium-sized business owners who have watched another day's income disappear through no fault of their own, and shops who have lost the daily trade they depend on simply to survive.

Sadly, in some cases, communities have spent almost an entire week without electricity, while in others, families and businesses have endured unstable voltage for close to two weeks, with all the damage that this causes to equipment, appliances and productivity.

There is no two ways how to say it: this is a national crisis. It is unacceptable for a European Union member state in 2026 to find itself in this situation. When citizens and business owners pay their taxes, and invest in Malta, they do it in good faith, with the promise that the government will provide them with the basic infrastructure to carry on with their lives, and with their commercial operations without interruption. The government has failed them, and this is a national disgrace.

The government chose an economic model which is built on population growth, exploding numbers overnight, without properly planning for it. Now the chickens have come home to roost, and the government is resorting to the most ridiculous of excuses to cover for its faults.

Are businesses now expected to invest in their own electricity generators just to guarantee continuity? Have we reached the point where the national electricity supply is no longer considered reliable enough to meet the country's needs? Because if that is the case, then the Prime Minister and Minister Dalli, need to be clear about it.

I hope we will never reach that stage, but there is one thing Minister Dalli needs to do, and that is accept responsibility for her own, and the government's sheer incompetence in the energy distribution sector and take the honourable road. This will be the first step towards solving the national crisis the government has thrown the country in.

Secondly, those who have suffered losses should not be forced into lengthy bureaucratic processes to recover what they have lost, based on the buona grazia of the government's favourable mood or less.  Automatic compensation in cases of failure, should be introduced as a guaranteed recompense, that snaps into action as soon as the failure is registered, setting a semblance of accountability, at least.

Apologies alone are no longer enough. Malta needs a complete overhaul of how we plan, invest in, and manage our critical infrastructure. Our business community can teach our Government a lesson or two about planning, because they know that if they let things slip even for a fraction of a second, it could spell disaster for their businesses. We cannot expect anything less from our government which sadly has displayed gross incompetence in this area, to the detriment and expense of the business community and our families.