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7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 31 JANUARY 2024 NEWS MARIANNA CALLEJA mcalleja@mediatoday.com.mt Malta basked in record sunlight in 2023 MALTA went through a warmer than usual year in 2023, offering tourists a blissful escape from harsh winters. Last year stood out with tem- peratures consistently surpass- ing monthly averages, making it one of the warmest and driest in recent history, the Malta Air- port's Meteorological Office re- ported. The Met Office measured 3,020 hours of sunshine, with seven months being brighter than the norm. July took center stage as the Meteorological Office declared it the warmest month since 1922. With an average temperature of 29.6°C, the month marked an exceptional heatwave lasting 10 days, peaking at a scorching 42.7°C. Multiple extreme heat warn- ings were issued, cementing Ju- ly's place in the records for its unprecedented warmth. The trend of elevated temper- atures persisted throughout the year, even extending into De- cember. Opening the winter season with an average temperature of 15.9°C, December exceeded the climatic norm by 1.4°C. February, however, was an ex- ception, recording the coldest day of the year at 5.3°C. May and June aligned closely with climatic norms, providing a brief reprieve from the above-av- erage temperatures. The precipitation year span- ning September 2022 to August 2023 saw Malta receiving 554.8 mm of rain, surpassing the an- nual average. February stood out as the wet- test month, with almost one- third of the annual rainfall, mainly attributed to storm He- lios. In contrast, July remained en- tirely dry, and autumn failed to bring the expected rain. Octo- ber, in particular, became the driest on record, receiving only 0.2 mm of rainfall, 77.4 mm less than the climatic norm. Despite the variations in rainfall, Malta experienced above-average wind speeds in eight months. April and May emerged as the windiest, boasting an average speed of 10.1 knots. November featured the most potent gust, reaching an impressive speed of 53 knots from the northwest. Last year stood out with temperatures consistently surpassing monthly averages, making it one of the warmest and driest in recent history, according to the Met Office KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Tonio Fenech on Electrogas: 'Today I call it the pantomime of Alice in Wonderland' IT was in the heat of the 2013 general election campaign when then finance minister Tonio Fenech labelled the Labour Par- ty's energy plan "Alice in Won- derland". 11 years later, Fenech has gone one step further in his criticism of the Electrogas power station: "I called it Alice in Wonderland… today, I call it the pantomime of Alice in Wonderland." The fresh description came in the midst of a lively exchange be- tween Fenech and government MPs in parliament's Public Ac- counts Committee on Tuesday. The committee continued with its scrutiny of the National Audit Office's report on the Electrogas power station procurement pro- cess. "You only have to look at the NAO report to understand why the whole project was a panto- mime, starting with the broken promises of having a 10-year price stability agreement," Fenech said. The former Nationalist MP has been almost seven years out of politics, which begs the question as to why he was asked to testi- fy in the PAC about his time as minister between 2008 and 2013. It was a question an incredulous Fenech asked MPs: "I am still trying to understand why I have been called to testify because Electrogas was not even on the horizon in that period." This was Fenech's second ap- pearance in front of the PAC af- ter government MPs requested that he testify. But even though he abandoned politics in 2017, Fenech still re- tained the same fighting spirit, defending the decisions taken by the Gonzi administration be- tween 2008 and 2013. The period was characterised by the financial crisis, the sover- eign debt crisis and also the Libya crisis, prompting the government to increase utility bills to make up for higher oil prices and adopt austerity measures. "With the benefit of hindsight, I can say unemployment remained low, the economy continued moving forward… oil prices in- creased and we had to respond and one of the measures was higher utility bills but we tried compensating by cutting income tax and introducing other target- ed support measures," Fenech re- sponded to questions put to him by Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo. When asked whether he would give the current administration advice to remove the energy sub- sidies and instead increase elec- tricity prices, Fenech hit back: "Since when is government seek- ing my consultancy services? If government wants my advice, it can pay for it." The former minister said the hefty subsidies are masking a reality where people who can af- ford to pay higher prices for the electricity they consume are not trying to save on consumption because they believe the country is shouldering the burden. He insisted the IMF had also suggested the phasing-out of en- ergy subsidies and instead replac- ing these with targeted support for vulnerable families. Fenech questioned the lack of transparency on how the millions in subsidies were being spent in view of fluctuating international oil and gas prices. "Government is subsidising en- ergy with €300 million but bills have not been reduced by that amount. Something tells me there is something that is not right but we can never know be- cause the government does not publish the arrangements it has to keep prices stable," he said. Queried whether he was proud of the Gonzi administration's de- cisions, Fenech avoided the bait: "I am proud with the service I gave my country." Former finance minister Tonio Fenech (File photo)