Alternattiva Demokratika candidate for the European Parliament and party Chairperson Arnold Cassola has spoken out on the publication by government of the draft energy policy document, “We have missed the deadlines or promises in the energy sector repeatedly. A glaring example is the promise made by government that the Marsa Power Station would have closed on completion of the new Delimara Power Station. Then it was promised that by accession to the EU in 2004 the Marsa Power Station will close down. Both promises were not kept.”

“Why do we insist on investment and improvement in the energy sector? First of all because we believe that our complete dependence on oil – apart from the health effects of burning such fuels – is dangerous to our economy. The fact that nobody really knows yet what the price of electricity and water will be, apart from being unfair and preventing families and businesses from proper planning of their expenses, leads to uncertainty.”

“We also believe that we must tackle the causes of climate change – climate change will effect us more and more in the future and we must move towards an economy based on clean energy. We can also take the opportunity to modernize our economy and create jobs in the process.”

Alternattiva Demokratika will be making its proposals about the draft energy policy. At a first glance there are a number of interesting proposals, but what worries AD is that there is no proposed roadmap on how to achieve the targets set out in the policy document. This is a document by government – that is the authorities who have the power to implement policies. We need to have a roadmap with short, medium and long term aims with targets and deadlines for implementation.

Arnold Cassola concluded, “In February 2008 in a political meeting with PN women in Naxxar, the Prime minister promised 20% of energy from alternative sources by 2010. The energy document mentions the 20-20-20 EU targets. Apart from the fact that we cannot understand how Lawrence Gonzi promised a jump of 20% from 0% of alternative energy in 18 months time, which is very far fetched, even the 2020 target is not that far away and unless concrete steps are taken to achieve the EU targets – which energy experts say are not enough to combat climate change – we will remain behind schedule once again. It is an honour that Malta introduced the concept of climate as a common heritage of mankind in the United Nations (UN General Secretary will be inaugurating a memorial to mark this event this week at University). Now we must walk the talk and translate policy and concepts into action.”

AD candidate for the European Parliament Yvonne Ebejer Arqueros spoke on the social issues AD and the Greens will work on in the next legislature of the European Parliament.

Yvonne Ebejer Arqueros said, “The European Greens are at the forefront of social policies that aim for a more equal and inclusive society. AD will insist that better job opportunities and work conditions are created in Europe and Malta. The Greens are promoting the idea of a global Green Deal which will create millions of jobs in areas such as manufacturing, tourism, services, IT, research, alternative energy, transport, agriculture and waste management. It is estimated that 5 million Green jobs can be created within the European Union. The United Nations, Trade Unions and Employers’ Associations within the EU and Malta are supporting the call for creation of Green Jobs.”

Yvonne Ebejer Arqueros added, “an AD MEP will promote policies to counter the negative effects of the current economic crisis, in order to protect groups such as senior citizens, young families and workers at risk of losing their employment. We will promote policies against insecure job contracts, precarious work and exploitation which are affecting various categories of workers, including young, ageing, female workers and workers with family responsibilities.”

Meanwhile AD announced that two leading Green personalities will be hosted by AD in the next few days. Former German Green Party leader and head of list for the Green Party list for next June’s MEP elections Reinhard Buetikofer will visit Malta from Tuesday to Wednesday. Next Saturday MEP of the Year and Energy expert Claude Turmes from Luxembourg will visit Malta. Both will attend activities and social events organized by AD.

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