Cleaner environment and politics

Today's debate in Parliament on the Delimara power station extension motion is about values, all our values. We either value our families' health above all else or we don't. We either strive for better health for all our tomorrows and, of course ,cheaper bills, or we don't. And the results are the clearly unacceptable things this government has done, and is doing, on our behalf.
The motion is essentially calling for the best, cleanest and cheapest technology for the crucial energy generation plant that will be used for the next two decades or more. This is what the government said three and a half years ago when it opted for gas-fired power stations. And now it is going totally opposite by choosing heavy fuel oil.
Today's debate will also discuss the irregularities in the process that awarded the contract to BWSC, irregularities the Auditor General confirmed in his report.
The Parliamentary debate today will continue to further stress the stark contrast between our movement, which is there for your families and your children, and a party of the past, which is ready to accept mediocre standards while putting your family in a position of very high risk.
Today, in Parliament, we have a clear choice: we are either on your side or against you. And, once again, we will choose to be on your side. That is why the issue being debated is not merely Nationalist Party versus Labour Party but, rather, the overriding values of a movement of the future as opposed to the politics of the past.
We stand for cleaner environment and cleaner politics, which puts you at the centre of our decisions.
Politicians and political decisions should never put people, or the entities who supply services to people, "in a position of very high risk". That is the very opposite of what good politics should be about. The "position of very high risk" was how the Auditor General himself precisely described the outcome of this whole sorry power station extension saga. That was the Auditor General's assessment of where we have been placed by Enemalta, which signed this deal with "undue haste" on behalf of this country and all its people.
As a responsible opposition we highlighted all the main flaws in the whole tender process at an early stage. The government chose to ignore us, even though dark clouds were looming. The deal was signed on the same day the Auditor General started investigating it.
Let us be absolutely clear. The Auditor General endorsed all our concerns. It is highly irresponsible and misleading of the Prime Minister to try to indicate otherwise. That is why those who will be voting against our motion this evening will be voting against the report of the Auditor General.
The government has made a bad choice both financially and for the health of our children. Our financial health and our physical health are the two most important and intricately interconnected areas that concern us all. Labour is not going to accept this threat to our future.
All this comes after the government ignored the endemic problems of Enemalta for years: a government that did not balance the books but kept on trying to borrow itself out of problems. Now people have to pay through higher bills for this government's waste and profligacy. Most insulting of all though is the fact that our health is not even this government's primary concern.
The PL, though, will, and is, putting your health first. Not just your financial health but your physical well being too.
Malta has a high cancer rate. We have to clean up our air and our environment. We have to clean up and remedy the way we acquired a power station. This problem cannot be ignored. It is disgraceful to add to this tragedy by not going for the cleanest possible technology in the cheapest and most transparent possible way.
On both counts, Lawrence Gonzi's government has failed you badly. We will not let this rest. We will serve you far better.

Dr Muscat is Leader of the Opposition and of the Labour Party.