Government prioritising political goals over residents’ security - Comodini Cachia

Nationalist MEP hopeful Therese Comodini Cachia today expressed her concerns over the government's decision to opt for a floating LNG terminal anchored to a jetty in Delimara.

"This will expose residents to risks, disrupt their jobs, their family life and impinge on their property rights," Comodini Cachia said while addressing a press conference in Birzebuggia.

The floating terminal will be anchored permanently to the jetty, as proposed by Electrogas consortium who have been awarded the contract to construct the new gas fuelled power plant in Delimara.

The social impact assessment on the 215MW gas plant and liquefied natural gas storage terminal shows that the most disliked option is that of storing the gas in gigantic tanks located on land - this was originally Labour's energy plan, and was derided by the Nationalist Party, claiming the tanks were 'as big as the Mosta church dome' and a potential safety hazard for Marsaxlokk. The land-based tanks have now been discarded due to safety reasons, but it was one of three options assessed in the EIA.

However, the vast majority of residents in seaside localities Marsaxlokk and Birzebbugia said that they would prefer having the gas storage infrastructure located outside the Marsaxlokk harbour.

Comodini Cachia, born and raised in Birzebbugia, said that the government should uphold the rights of the residents of Marsaxlokk and her hometown "if it truly believes in good governance and fairness."

Noting that she was not opposed to the project, the MEP candidate said that since the decision to construct the project was taken, she would do her utmost to ensure that it does not negatively impact on residents.

She added that the government was "doing what suits it best," and prioritising the timescales and financial targets over residents' health.

Comodini Cachia said the government was "immature and irresponsible" by implementing a project for its political expediencies while ignoring the residents' security.

Accompanied by engineer Stanley Zammit, the PN candidate posed a number of questions over the project and what would happen in the eventuality of an incident such as the dispersion of a cold vapour cloud from the new gas fired power station

"Why is the terminal going to be anchored inside the bay while the regasification plant is on land? If the regasification process poses the biggest risks, why will it be situated adjacent to the power plant? Why won't the storage and regasification plants be on sea?"

She went on to question why no study on any potential incident was carried out and whether an incident would affect nearby plants, such as the Freeport.

Stressing that this was a matter of national interest, Comodini Cachia asked whether an incident would affect the country's energy supply.