We should be proud of any capital project that strengthens our resilience. Belittling a project by labelling it as belonging to a single political party is a disservice to the nation and a reflection of the petty politics that serious politicians are expected to strive to rise above

Time and time again, the electorate has shown politicians that it is not interested in petty politics. It favors maturity, where policymakers put national interest first and focus on the common good. It is an informed electorate that looks past the frills and is unimpressed by the superfluous. In recent days, a delegation led by two senior Ministers – Miriam Dalli and Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi – accompanied Maltese journalists to Ragusa, Sicily, offering them a front-row seat to the rapid progress being made for the implementation of the second interconnector – a €300 million capital project that will effectively double Malta’s electrical connectivity to mainland Europe. The benefits?

1. Strengthens electricity connectivity and reliability

2. Meets rising demand from economic growth, transport electrification, and shipping needs

3. Improves the security of supply and provides backup in case of failures

4. Supports Malta’s 2030 climate and energy goals by allowing renewable electricity imports

5. Enables the growth of local renewable energy

It is therefore a project of strategic importance for the island, one that has been rubber-stamped by the European Commission and welcomed by everyone alike. Cue the Opposition’s spokespersons, issuing a statement attempting to undermine the work of the Labour government. The question arises: what does the Nationalist Party expect to gain by regurgitating an old press release? For the readers’ sake you should know that nine months ago, under a different energy spokesperson, the PN issued the same exact statement. This time around, they added a few details from the Ragusa trip. Maybe the Nationalist Opposition believes it ‘owns’ every positive project. It inadvertently reminded readers that it is actually the Labour administration that is executing project after project.These are the facts: The need for the first interconnector was mentioned in the country’s generation plan as early as 2006. By the time the Labour Party was elected to government in 2013, not even the necessary permits had been issued. The Labour Government worked on it, and in 2015, the first interconnector came into operation. A whole nine years after its conception. The EU funding contribution? €20 million.Now let’s move on to the second interconnector (IC2). IC2 is estimated to cost around €300 million and follows a completely different route for security reasons. It benefits from an EU funding allocation of approximately €165 million. The decision to build IC2 was made in June 2021, and energisation is expected to occur during this legislative period. Do the maths: three years less than the first interconnector. Is it that difficult for the Nationalist Party to engage in mature politics? It is always easy to speak the words that crowds like to hear. However, it is much harder to put them into action.