Health Minister Chris Fearne Scapegoats PN And Brags About Energy Infrastructure Upgrades
Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne sent a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives in which he celebrated the PL’s prioritisation of “the energy supply” – which he believed was best expressed through six major infrastructural upgrades which have been implemented over the past year and a half.
“With the investment we are making, in just the last year and a half we have added 66 new substations and nine 11KV reinforcements and replaced 120 km of aerial lines,” began Fearne.
“We have implemented 130 low voltage reinforcement upgrades, implemented 41 transformer upgrades and switchgear replacements and implemented upgrades in Wied il-Għajn, Tarxien and Mrieħel distribution centres.”
These upgrades have been so successful that this week, Enemalta employees have been working through consecutive nights to try and get power back into thousands of Malta’s households.
This letter has been sent after thousands of households have spent days – and long nights – without power, which Enemalta CEO Jonathan Cardona has said may not be fixed if the heat persists.
“We are doing all this to strengthen out electricity system, which the Nationalist government had left completely abandoned,” read Fearne’s statement.
If the PN acted neglectfully towards Malta’s energy infrastructure, the PL has now had a decade to undo that damage.
Labour is blaming its predecessor for not doing enough during their tenure – while still trudging through a calamitous week of power cuts proving their own party’s failure to guarantee energy security and stability.
“We understand the inconvenience that many people have gone through, and currently the priority is that these people are helped as soon as possible. Moreover, the government has already announced that compensation will be given to those affected,” said Fearne.
“The priority of this government is always the people. We have worked to keep energy prices stable and that meant we removed a burden of €400 million from families and businesses and we did this by making changes in the electricity billing system introduced by the Nationalist Government.”
Because humanity is collectively reasserting a commitment to destroying ourselves in a slow and painful manner, authorities in Malta no longer have any right to be surprised, or caught off guard, when summer temperatures exceed 40°C.
In no time at all, 40°C will be considered the lower end of the heatwave spectrum. Malta’s infrastructure needs to catch up with this reality.
In the meantime, Malta should consider using any influence it has at its disposal to provoke substantial systemic change on a national and international change. It is currently operating within a global economic system predicated on environmental devastation and human suffering.
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