Hundreds of millions are currently being thrown at a number of employees and employers all over the globe to make sure the world’s eventual post-Coronavirus recession doesn’t hit too hard. Back in Malta, however, one of the island’s loudest Government critics had a thing or two to say about the nation’s lost millions.

“Woke up to the news this morning that Action Man Abela is burning more of our money on bailouts instead of ripping up the fraudulent Electrogas contract,” Daphne Caruana Galizia’s son Matthew said on Wednesday, following Prime Minister Abela’s latest financial package announcement. “I know people on Facebook hate maths, but please bear with me so that you can understand: electricity consumption is measured in megawatt hours (MWh).”

The post goes on to break down how Enemalta technically has the choice to either buy electricity for €61.75 per MWh or €112.39 per MWh… but just can’t opt for the cheaper option.

A normal government would buy the cheaper electricity, right? Except that our government is not normal: it signed a contract that binds Enemalta to buy the more expensive electricity from Electrogas.

This means that, because Maltese people consume about 2,400,000 MWh per year (and only 900,000 of that came from the interconnector last year), the island spends €170 million on electricity… instead of €93 million.