What is Labour’s Plan B?
This is another comment I thought I should highlight. It came in on Tuesday evening and I’ve only just got to it. Posted by Tonio Bone:
Konrad is throwing a lot of passion into this but what he does not realise is that there is a hidden risk. If this works he will be a hero, if it doesn’t he will be the sacrifical lamb.
Labour will be running this country come the 9th of March and Joseph Muscat will implement his energy policy revolution because if he doesn’t, the Opposition will pelter him all the way to the last day of the legislature and the people that will vote Labour will feel betrayed.
Eventually we will then find out 1) the real figures behind the project, 2) who the interested private parties are, 3) who the engineers advising Labour are. And more.
Mark my words: Joseph Muscat WILL reduce electricity bills by 25% whatever the outcome, because frankly he cannot afford not to. According to Konrad Mizzi, this requires a cost of Euro 77 million annually, so there must be a Plan B to cough up this money from another source.
If there is no Plan B then this will go to widen our deficit further and that will not be good news.
I will not go as far as saying that PN’s energy plan has been perfect, far from it, and perhaps in some instance, especially with Phase 2 of Delimara, it did not pan out as expected, but the people that govern us need and have to realize that this country cannot take such gambles.
The restructuring of entities such as Malta Drydocks, Malta Shipbuilding, Sea Malta (defunct), Air Malta and the so-far failed restructing of Enemalta either for lack of expertise or not to lose votes have cost us dearly, and we will bear the brunt of this for a few decades to come.
It is therefore high time our politicians find some consensus in their policies so that we move in a straight line and not zig-zag our way forward.
To call our present utility bills a burden is an understatement: in comparison Enemalta debt peaking at just over Euro 800 million is frightening. I just hope Labour know what they are doing and that keeping ‘the promise’ will not result in further financial misery.
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Reply to rjc Click here to cancel reply
Plan B is Joseph’s resignation.
Yes, but that does not rid the man in the street of the problems he would have left behind, does it?
Plan B would be to blame Gonzi with the “hofra” and do nothing at all.
MLP’s plan B to cover for these short gains (electricity gains) is a significant reduction in education expenditure (long term gain).
Their mindset is limited to short terms and immediate gains.
In addition, both Evarist Bartolo and in particular Edward Scicluna regard the investment in education as a waste. They still prefer to invest in textile manufacture rather than education.
Plus, deep down they know that an educated (and consequently a questioning population) is a threat to the survival of the Labour Party.
Plan B would be getting money from some where else, like raising taxes, VAT, decreasing the allocation to local councils, no other capital projects etc.
The problem is that the electoral campaign has been hijacked by the PL proposal on the new power station and nothing else is being debated.
Plan B? It took them years to come up with this ‘Plan A’.
The answer is simple: if you lose at Russian Roulette, you won’t have a Plan B.
There IS Plan B, which is the Nationalist Party’s – it will be the interconnector from Sicily, where electricity cost should drop significantly, which will come operational around March 2014, just in time for the tariff reductions.
I’m not too sure the PN has driven home this argument too well.
“The restructuring of entities such as Malta Drydocks, Malta Shipbuilding, Sea Malta (defunct), Air Malta and the so-far failed restructing of Enemalta either for lack of expertise or not to lose votes have cost us dearly, and we will bear the brunt of this for a few decades to come.”
It is pertinent to note here that it was always the General Workers Union which obstructed all reforms of these mammoth corporations.
Even the latest one, EneMalta Corporation, the GWU is obstructing and has been obstructing all reforms which management wanted to carry out since the GWU is politically motivated not to lose out on the new structure which the Government wants to implement.
SO BLAME ALL THIS ON THE GWU and not on those who want and understand reforms. Even in Airmalta the GWU is always obstructing management like it used to do at the MDD since the GWU has a political agenda.
This is the last time for Tony Zarb as GWU General Secretary since he believes that the MLP will be in Government in March 2013 and that he will be repaid for his industrial sabotage by leaving ailing companies sucking the blood of the people’s work.
Where is Labour’s Plan A ? I ask.
So far we have had pure eyewash.
Mr X borrows a huge bank loan to build up an enterprise. When he realises that he cannot honour his financial commitments with the bank, he asks the bank to give him twice the original bank loan so that he will build up another fresh new enterprise that will make him enough profit to be able to repay the original loan and with plenty left over to fritter away.
When the bank asks for more guarantees and details of the new enterprise, Mr X waffles.
This is the sort of hare-brained , pie-in-the-sky castles-in-Spain project which Labour’s scatterbrained experts are trying to flog on us to pay for the Enemalta debt and provide cheap electricity to the people.
God save us.
Plan B is as has happened in the past: the PN will have to sort out and clean the mess.
Who said Muscat doesn’t have Plan B?
He will stay on as MP and get a salary, plus of course he will be entitled to the ex PM pension if he is ousted.
Is there an ex- MEP pension too to add to all this?
No Plan B my foot!