What Light's you up?

What is sure is that, whoever wins, we shall enjoy cheaper energy. At least that is what we are being told. That has monopolised the electoral debate so far. Is it really all we care about? It seems that is what some journalist’s think. Following the electoral trail with Dr Gonzi visiting a tomato farm in Gozo, they showed no interest in the farming sector and instead asked him about the Labour Party’s (PL) proposals on energy.

He told them that the employers, developers and other businesses had welcomed the PL’s energy proposal before the Nationalist Party (PN) exposed it as a gimmick, adding they did so before they were made aware that the proposal, which Labour claimed would cost about €360 million, would in fact cost €600 million. “The taxpayer will have to pay, bills will increase, industry will crumble and jobs will be put at risk,” he told journalists.

Reality or babaw tactics? The PN was not happy (to put it mildly) that the PL’s proposals have been welcomed by the Employers Association (MEA), the Association of Hospitality Executives (MAHE) and the Developers’ Association (MDA). They have all welcomed the PL’s long-awaited plan to reduce water and electricity bills.

The MEA even lauded it, calling it “ambitious and courageous”. The MEA expressed its satisfaction that the PL had taken on board the recommendation in its memorandum to political parties to create a parliamentary position responsible for energy, lower electricity tariffs, and greater involvement of the private sector, environmental consideration and health considerations.

The MDA said it considered the political discussion on electricity tariffs a positive development because it could be the key to a stronger, more vibrant Maltese economy. It noted that the proposal led to a mature discussion on the energy sector. The positive effect of cheaper tariffs, on the scale indicated by the PL, on the Maltese economy would undoubtedly be enormous and would stimulate the business sector to contribute further for the good of Maltese society and its further progress, it said.

“MDA appreciates the Labour Party’s effort to put together its proposal and feels it is a serious attempt to solve the problem through a doable project, although it is preoccupied on how possible it is for the project to be complete in two years,” said their statement.
It is quite intriguing really the way the debate over this issue has developed. The Labour Party (PL) has been promising this for a while now and it had been met with scepticism, including from yours truly, since I wanted to know how it was to be achieved and always feel that the money has to come from somewhere and it was usually our taxes.

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech also stressed latter point on Thursday afternoon, claiming Labour’s water and electricity proposals would lead to higher taxes. But will they? Now that the election is nigh, the PL has finally come up with specifics, which it was reluctant to divulge until now. On Tuesday evening, a detailed 370-million-euro plan was unveiled, which was to be overseen by Joseph Muscat as Prime Minister, and an Energy Minister (an innovation) and we were told it would not come from our taxes.

The Delimara power station was to be gas-fired leading to an average 25 per cent reduction in our utility bills. The private sector, (and this is open to all interested parties. A call will be issued in April) will finance the new plant while the BWSC extension will remain the property of Enemalta.

Labour would complete the project within a two-year timeframe and effect savings for private households next year. Water bills would be reduced by five per cent through savings made from reduced electricity bills. According to the Kema Dutch energy consultants, the cost of electricity generation, including a return on capital investment, will drop to 9c6 per unit.

By Wednesday evening, the PN also insisted that it was committed to reducing water and electricity bills water and electricity bills. “We are proposing to have a gas pipeline to deliver gas to our power station, funded partly by the EU and partly through private investment,” said Prime Minister Gonzi in Berlin, adding that the PN would be giving its detailed reactions on Labour’s proposals at a press conference the next day, which indicated the PN was worried by the PL’s effect on the electorate with its proposals on energy, despite their counter offensive calling it a “gimmick” and saying their pipeline would also reduce tariffs.

Other points, which would strike a positive chord with the electorate, were Joseph Muscat’s assurances that Enemalta’s management would be bipartisan. “Directors would be chosen on the basis of their merit, whatever their party,” his party’s commitment to safeguard the jobs of all Enemalta workers and that he would step down if Labour does not deliver on its energy plan.

But the PL know that it cannot keep flogging the same horse, although the issues it is now raising do not have the same impact. “The party wanted to move on from its much discussed energy plans and start unveiling other electoral proposals,” said Joseph Muscat. These included proposals about workers’ rights – with a specific focus on those in precarious work – and ways of integrating women into the workforce, he said.
A Labour government would strengthen Malta’s equality commission and update social security laws to further promote gender equality, he said on Friday. The PL would also make the government more representative by ensuring more women were appointed to its boards, Dr Muscat said.

Sounds good, but if the PL are so sold on women taking their rightful place in society, what have they done so far within their own party to validate that statement? None of the political parties have been known to take this issue seriously. One only has to look at the electoral line up of all of them to see that.

“Social security laws are based on families in which the male was the sole breadwinner. That is often not the case anymore and we need to address that,” said the PL leader. My question is – Does it take a general election for this outdated law to be brought forward and addressed? “The PL’s electoral programme would include an entire chapter discussing gender equality measures”, promised Joseph Muscat. That is certainly one of the promises I shall be following closely.

Published in the Malta Independent on Sunday 13/01/2013