Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545966
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 JULY 2026 Electricity outages are a planning failure Editorial ENEMALTA'S executive chair blamed the "excep- tionally high temperatures" for what he described as "sustained stress" on the electricity distribution network, during a technical briefing for reporters last week. Ryan Fava also noted that the record demand of 741MW reached on Tuesday was 11% higher than the previous record of 663MW reached during the summer of 2023. Viewed in isolation, Fava's statements suggest that the exceptional heatwave was the main driver for the 11% increase in peak demand. There is one snag in this neat equation, however. Three years have passed since that summer from hell in 2023. In these three years the country continued to add thousands more tourists, thousands more foreign workers, and many more apartments, shopping malls, commercial outlets and towers in what is evidently becoming an unsustainable economic model. This leader will not bore you with numbers. The growth figures that have had a significant impact on electricity demand are well-explained by Ruben Abela, a planner by profession and former envi- ronment watchdog CEO, in his opinion piece pub- lished today. In a nutshell, Abela argues that "focusing exclu- sively on the heatwave risks missing the real les- son". "Heatwaves do not occur in a vacuum. Infra- structure does not fail in isolation. Electricity net- works are designed to serve demand, and demand is ultimately a product of planning decisions," he argues. His observations are food for thought and Energy Minister Miriam Dalli would do well to sit down and read what he has to say. Rather than blame the Nationalists, or the heat- wave, or try to console frustrated constituents by referring to power outages happening in other European countries, Dalli and the rest of the gov- ernment would do well to take a good look at the economic model they are championing. It is a scientific fact that progressively worse and lengthier heatwaves will be the norm going for- ward. It is one of the impacts of global warming. Dalli's ministry knows this more than any other entity in government since it encompasses climate change mitigation. Hot summers will always be with us and that is something we have absolutely no control over. What we can have control over though is how the economy is managed and how the country plans for it. Unfortunately, this is where the government has been caught napping for 13 years in several sectors. We've witnessed lack of planning in the finan- cial services sector, with the consequence of be- ing grey-listed by the FATF. After 2013, the sec- tor exploded; Malta sought to entice crypto firms and blockchain companies, while the supervisory authority remained paper-based and unable to cope with the influx. It was only when Malta was grey-listed that the government decided to play catch-up and invest in the MFSA, the FIAU, the police financial crimes unit. But the story was similar in other areas. A rapidly expanding economy that relied on imported cheap labour required more flats, more cars, more wa- ter and electricity, more hospital beds. Across the board, the pressure on public infrastructure grew exponentially but the investment lacked; the com- mitment faltered. So, it comes as no surprise to any right-think- ing person that Enemalta's distribution network continues to fail. The consequences of rapid, un- bridled growth on the electricity network are not abstract as financial grey-listing may have been to the vast majority of people. No, the consequences are tangible and wide-ranging. Electricity is not a luxury in 2026. It wasn't ei- ther in 2023. Indeed, it will increasingly be a core building block for a cleaner society. People and businesses expect reliability from the power grid, heat or no heat. Enemalta must step up its investment. It must ensure that the upgrades to the distribution sys- tem are resilient for the long term, taking into consideration climate change and the govern- ment's current policy to keep pushing a growth model that will add more and more pressure to public infrastructure. And while Enemalta is at it, it might as well be more honest about the extent of power outages. The online map only depicts faults on high-voltage cables. Long after, Enemalta said the situation had been brought under control and its map was show- ing a few isolated problems, many streets in vari- ous localities remained without power for hours on end. The faults in these areas were the result of faults on localised low-voltage feeders that do not show up on the online map. People living in these streets were left frustrated, isolated and angered. As for compensation, the Energy Ministry sim- ply announced it without giving details. But com- pensation should not depend on the government's goodwill or the minister's benevolence. It should be an automatic right for Enemalta clients de- nied service for more than an established number of hours. If the government really cared it would legislate to give the energy regulator the power to trigger such a compulsory compensation mecha- nism. MaltaToday 10 years ago Body of missing German teenager found in Dingli 27 July 2016 RELATIVES have confirmed that the corpse found yesterday morning at Dingli Cliffs, is that of the missing German teenager Mike Mansholt, who went missing just days ago. A body and a bicycle were found in the limits of Dingli following a search operation by local po- lice and volunteers. The body of the 17-year-old was found 10 sto- reys below street level and in a state of decom- position, and the bicycle was found a few metres further up. The discovery was made minutes after the fami- ly gave a press conference to appeal for more help in private searches to find Mike. Mansholt's father was taken to the site shortly after the discovery. The teenager, who was reported missing last week, was described as an experienced travel- ler. He has been missing since 18 July, and had travelled to Malta on holiday on 8 July with the express aim to visit a number of sites and enjoy extensive outdoor activities. Mansholt failed to catch his flight back home to Germany on 22 July, and was last seen online on 18 July at 10.11am. The Mansholt family issued a statement to thank the police and everyone who participated in the searches, to those who shared social media posts and to those who gave their support in the last few days. "We are devastated Mike has been taken from us so soon. Mike was our beloved brother, son, boyfriend. He was a big personality with big plans for life. His adventurous spirit will live on in our hearts," they said. [...]