Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/326223
ENEMALTA'S chief technical officer, Peter Grima, has resigned his senior post at the state utility after claims that he had misled the National Audit Office way back in 2012, in informa- tion he supplied on the operation and alleged tampering of smart meters. This newspaper has learnt that Gri- ma, one of Enemalta Corporation's senior management officers who oversaw major changes such as the smart meter transition and the phase II extension to the Delimara power station, was faced with the claims that the Auditor General's first for- ay into the allegations of tampered smart meters had been derailed. In 2012, alarm bells rang at the fi- nance ministry over allegations of the massive fraud taking place due to tampered smart meters. The Auditor General was tasked with a report into ARMS Ltd's op- erations in 2012, as a follow-up to a report commissioned in 2011. MaltaToday's source said that the NAO had concluded, based on re- sponses provided by Enemalta and chief technical officer Peter Grima, that the smart meter technology was robust and tamper-proof. Indeed, Enemalta claimed in 2012 that Maltese media reports that it was possible to tamper with the smart meters were "untrue" and that the technology deployed in the meter-to-back-end connection "works in a manner as to render this impossible." Enemalta had also said that any discrepancy between totals billed against total generated power "rais- es an automatic alarm". "EMC claims the models of meters deployed have a high degree of built- in protection against tampering," the NAO was told in 2012. "In conclusion NAO is reasonably assured, basing on the technical information supplied by Enemalta Corporation, that as long as the necessary steps to ensure a continuous and adequate 'detect and inspect' approach are taken by the ARMS/WSC/EMC triumvirate, the phenomenon of meter fraud will be controlled through a regime of a combination of prevention and cor- rective techniques." And yet, just a year later in 2013, the government was faced with proof of massive fraud involving an organised racket of tampering of smart meters with no check and balances in place. xxxxx Newspaper post mbank.com 2132 2100 FIMBank is an international trade nance specialist with an established reputation as a dynamic and customer-driven provider of trade nance solutions. FIMBank is headquartered in Malta and benets from a growing network of international oces. documentary collections bonds and guarantees treasury management structured trade nance commodity trade nance letters of credit ship nance payments forfaiting factoring Trade Finance Solutions engineered for business success FIMBank p.l.c. is a licensed credit institution in Malta with company registration C17003, is regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority and listed on the Malta Stock Exchange. CONTINUES PAGE 4 Piscopo can't get over himself €1.20 STEVE MICKLEWRIGHT INTERVIEWED pgs 10-11 SUNDAY • 8 JUNE 2014 • ISSUE 761 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY maltatoday MaltaToday's guide to the FIFA World Cup WORLD CUP FEVER IS ONLINE AT MALTATODAY.COM.MT/SPORTS/WORLDCUP2014 today MaltaToday's guide to MALTATODAY.COM.MT/SPORTS/WORLDCUP2014 €1.20 malta MaltaToday's guide to the FIFA World Cup WORLD CUP FEVER IS ONLINE AT FREE INSIDE Enemalta chief officer resigns amid allegations of derailed NAO audit Transport Malta chief sends boastful SMS to MaltaToday newsroom after 70m yacht berths at dock he unilaterally awarded to private company BACK PAGE JAMES DEBONO THE construction of an artificial island along the coast road opposite Qalet Marku is one of the preferred options among the 21 land reclamation proposals made by 17 com- panies, which are currently being considered by govern- ment officials. The artificial island, which would include luxury villas and resort development, is being considered as the most commercially viable due to its potential for upmarket real estate through which developers can reclaim massive con- struction costs. But to proceed with this project the government would have to claim that the project has "overriding public inter- est" which justifies the elimination of posidonia meadows, a sea grass protected by EU law which helps oxygenate coastal waters serving as the lung of the Mediterranean sea. Another problem facing land reclamation formations in the area is posed by the Malta-Sicily interconnector, which ends nearby at Maghtab. MaltaToday is informed that officials from the Malta En- vironment and Planning Authority have raised concerns on the environmental impact of the project. An evaluation committee chaired by architect Duncan Mifsud, from the Government Property Department, is currently evaluating bids by the 17 companies which expressed an interest in land reclamation. Bahar ic-Caghaq being earmarked for artificial island's luxury resort FULL STORY PAGE 10 Peter Grima