Energy consultant says he had no issue with Keith Schembri overseeing gas power station meetings

Labour Party energy consultant David Galea saw no issue with former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri overseeing two meetings related to the Electrogas power station.  

“I did not suspect anything because I felt it was his role to overlook the process as chief of staff,” he told parliament's Public Accounts Committee.

Galea continued testifying in the committee that is scrutinising the findings of the National Audit Office on the Electrogas tender. The report was finalised in November 2018. Subsequently, Enemalta engaged Galea to prepare a report on the NAO's observations. 

Galea said that during the project’s implementation, Schembri had attended two meetings where Galea was present – a meeting with people from four foreign banks who had insisted that a supply agreement needed to be endorsed by the European Commission, and another meeting concerning the closure of the bank guarantee.

When asked by the Opposition committee members, Galea said he had never suspected any wrongdoing from the Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi and Yorgen Fenech.

“I always try to revisit the process, but I cannot pin point any wrong doing following their involvement. We always had a free hand in the process,” he said.  

Opposition committee MPs also argued that the floating storage device for LNG had been chosen over a land-based alternative due to the two-year timeline promised by the former prime minister Joseph Muscat.  

A qualitative risk assessment carried out by SGS had concluded that the land-based storage system would never fail. In a 2013 meeting on 17 July, minutes showed that “land-based storage tanks are assumed to never fail.” 

“You were constrained to use a floating storage device due to the unrealistic electoral pledge by Joseph Muscat,” committee chair Beppe Fenech Adami remarked.  

MP Glen Bedingfield disputed the claim, insisting Muscat’s electoral pledge regarded the reduction of tariffs.  

“What is the agenda here?” Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo interjected.  

Galea also insisted the issues regarding timelines never took precedence over safety standards.

Nationalist MPs Karol Aquilina, Ryan Callus and Beppe Fenech Adami were also present.