Alternattiva to take further action if power station emergency plan remains unpublished

The government is legally obliged to publish the external emergency plan for the gas power station, according to Alternattiva Demokratika (AD) deputy chairperson Carmel Cacopardo.

Speaking at a press conference in Birzebbuga, he said that the EU directive, known as Seveso III, which was also implemented into Maltese law, requires an emergency plan to be in place and for the public to be aware of what should be done in case of an emergency. Cacopardo said that in addition to having the plan made public, the authorities are obliged to carry out a public trial.

Cacopardo said that the government's argument, that the plan could not be published for reasons of national security, does not make sense since the external emergency plan should focus on what residents in the vicinity need to do.

Energy spokesman Ralph Cassar reiterated that AD is in favour of the shift to gas because the carbon dioxide emissions from burning natural gas are significantly lower than when burning heavy fuel oil.

"Our position is that we must shift to gas and increase our use of renewable fuels. Things however need to be done well, with low risk of accidents and full transparency. The fact remains that had we, in the 90s, had a government that took the energy sector seriously, today we would have a gas pipeline and we wouldn't be here discussing tankers," Cassar said.

Cassar rubbished claims that the power station was not needed adding that it did not make sense to rely solely on the interconnector. Moreover he said that it was not true that there are no emissions from interconnector because carbon dioxide generated elsewhere for energy used in Malta is still classified as having been generated by Malta.