Shame on you, George Pullicino’ – Konrad Mizzi DISKORS ISTERIKU FIL-PARLAMENT MILL-ONOREVOLI KONRAD MIZZI - BATTAKKI DIRETTI FUQ GEORGE PULLICINO JJ Micallef says: An advice to Pullicino - ignore immature babies like Mizzi! Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi delivered an impassioned and harsh criticism of former resources minister George Pullicino as he concluded parliamentary debate on the financial estimates for his ministry this morning. Mr Pullicino had opened the debate, and Dr Mizzi insisted that the former minister opted to focus solely on personal attacks instead of on the content of the government’s proposals. He said that he would focus on his track record rather than retaliate, whilst pointing out that Mr Pullicino and former finance minister Tonio Fenech did not have much of a track record to speak of as far as this sector was concerned. But as he addressed Mr Pullicino’s claim that the Malta Resources Authority was being neutralised, he not only insisted that the opposite was true, but went on to harshly criticise the former minister. “The MRA is now working as it is supposed to, we addressed what you were unable to do in five years. In five years you were even afraid to take a decision on gas distributors,” he said, before exclaiming that Mr Pullicino was a coward. “You did nothing but open a few parks,” he continued, before exclaiming “shame on you, George Pullicino” – mirroring remarks he had made to Mr Fenech that became a pre-election catchphrase. But Dr Mizzi’s remarks that Mr Pullicino had another source of income, though it was best not to talk about it at this stage prompted the MP to raise a point of order, challenging the minister to substantiate his claims. “I never had a wife on a salary like you,” Mr Pullicino added, in a reference to Dr Mizzi’s appointment as a special envoy for Malta Enterprise. Dr Mizzi went on to defend his energy plans, stating that as a result, Malta would not have to wait for 6-7 years to switch to gas but only until early 2015, and stressing the beneficial effect on public health this would have. He insisted that this alone would not have guaranteed that Enemalta would not go under, insisting that if the proposed sale of a minority stake to a Chinese state company did not go through, the best-case scenario would have been an EU-imposed rescue plan similar to that faced by Air Malta. “But this will not happen, Enemalta will turn a profit. Judge me by my track record,” the minister said. Dr Mizzi was also critical of the BWSC-built plant commissioned by the previous government – which opposition MPs insist is key to next year’s reduction in energy bills. He stressed that the plant was a prototype using a very complicated design, and that this was causing huge maintenance headaches at Enemalta. The plant’s eight turbines were never operational at the same time, Dr Mizzi said, adding that two would always be on maintenance while another two would often be damaged. He pointed out that 164 breakdowns at the plant were reported between January and September this year. Government MPs defend energy achievements Earlier in the day, government MPs dismissed the opposition’s criticism largely by questioning its track record and by stressing what had been achieved so far as parliament. The first government MP to speak was Etienne Grech, who focused on addressing as many points opposition MPs had made as he could in his time-slot. Dr Grech stressed that the setting up of an energy ministry was itself the fulfilment of an electoral promise, and served to provide a greater focus on the sector. He insisted that the PN was wrong-footed by Labour’s energy plans, as it had not expected them to be so well-thought-out. The MP insisted that the PN could not be treated seriously when it called for bills to be reduced before the planned reduction in March, particularly since the party had insisted, before the election, that such reductions were not possible. He pointed out that the government was not deceiving anyone on bill reductions, and that businesses could expect their bills to go down a year after household bills did. The next MP to speak was Silvio Schembri, who started by stating that he would seek not to descend to the “personal attacks” of opposition MPs as he rebutted their points. He noted that while the PN had insisted that energy was a strategic sector, it had failed to produce an energy plan during its long term in government, leading him to question the attention it gave to non-strategic sections. Mr Schembri insisted that the government inherited a heavily-indebted Enemalta whose workers had been disheartened, but said that these workers were now already seeing a future as a result of the government’s actions. He dismissed the PN’s calls to reduce bills ahead of schedule, stating that it made the party’s confusion evident. He also added that the party may be seeking lower energy bills to address its own financial situation, adding that he hoped an accountant would help solve their problem. The PN’s criticism that bills would not be reduced by a quarter across the board was also dismissed by the MP, who questioned how the party could not understand a simple table. “Eight months since the election and they are still stunned. Everyone has understood and praised the budget except for the PN,” he said. As he concluded his address, he said that while the PN was asking where the beef was in the budget, the party itself left those waiting for its proposals starving. An opposition MP quipped that Mr Schembri was “eating with four mouths,” in reference to his four sources of income, including as a consultant to the Energy Ministry. Mr Schembri, however, hit back by stating that the MP in question appeared to be well-fed despite having just one mouth. Marlene Farrugia, who had been her party’s energy spokesman in opposition, took a different approach, focusing on environmental concerns relating to energy and water use. She urged for the development of plans to manage the use of both resources which went above partisan considerations, and which involved the input of all stakeholders. Dr Farrugia expressed her disappointment at the fact that the Delimara power plant – which is in her electoral district – was not immediately switched to diesel and that the Marsa power station is yet to close down, stating that the effect on people’s health could not be bought off. But she also pointed out that a PN government had dismissed its own “sensible” plan calling for a switch to gas power to “burden” the country with a plant running on heavy fuel oil. The MP pointed out that due to electoral concerns, water and energy conservation appear not to have been given much attention, and stressed that in the short-term, the best way to achieve results was to improve efficiency. She also noted that Malta’s water table was in a poor state, partly blaming the lack of a proper policy on agriculture. She also criticised the previous government’s failure to give due consideration to rainwater conservation in the national flood relief project it had launched, and that the “extraordinary” investment in smart meters has yet to bring results. Share from The Malta Independent
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 14:47:19 +0000
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