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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 11 JUNE 2014 News 9 JURGEN BALZAN OPPOSITION MP George Pullicino yesterday claimed that the energy meter scam, which saw Enemalta lose millions in stolen energy, was a nothing but a "racket by Labour- ites". As parliament continued discuss- ing Enemalta's financial estimates which were approved yesterday evening, Pullicino said the scam "stinks" and claimed that govern- ment and energy minister Konrad Mizzi were concealing the real mag- nitude of the scandal. "The scam is nothing but a racket by Labourites, who wish to see En- emalta lose money under the pre- vious administration," he claimed, adding that all employees who were suspended by the corporation were well known Labour supporters. To date, two Enemalta employees have been found guilty of being in- volved in the scam, with a number of other employees facing similar charges. In reply to Pullicino's speech, en- ergy minister Konrad Mizzi said "it seems that the Opposition has not learnt a thing from the loss at the polls in the European elections," adding that rumour had it that PN leader Simon Busuttil was about to change his shadow cabinet, telling Pullicino "this could well be your last speech as my shadow". Pointing out that the energy theft scam happened "under the PN gov- ernment's watch," Mizzi said that Pullicino should be "ashamed" of making such accusations when the previous administration had done absolutely nothing to tackle the scam. "The government had a clear plan for Enemalta. We were committed to bring the corporation back to its feet and the country can bear witness to our success," Mizzi said, adding that credit agencies and the EU have con- firmed this. "We inherited a corporation with €800 million in debts but in just one year we have seen debt levels reduce by half and around €400 million in new investment." He added that under Labour, En- emalta improved its management, reduced its costs, reduced pollution, increased efficiency, reduced energy tariffs and was on its way to decom- mission the ancient Marsa power plant and the Delimara first phase plant. Government's broken promises In an impassioned speech, Pulli- cino also asked why the Labour ad- ministration had granted an amnes- ty to consumers who came forward with information on the case. Yesterday, Mizzi informed Parlia- ment that 428 consumers had ap- proached Enemalta to regularise their position over the tampered smart meters. In February, government had giv- en consumers who used tampered smart meters six weeks to regularise their position and provide informa- tion on the scandal. At the turn of the year, Mizzi had revealed that up to 1,000 smart me- ters were found to have been tam- pered with, including 200 smart me- ters which belonged to businesses. "Who is the Prime Minister pro- tecting? Are any ministers or close aides involved?" Pullicino asked. The former PN minister also lam- basted government's "secrecy" over its failure to publish the contracts signed for the part-privatisation of the corporation with the Chinese- state owned company Shanghai Electric Power who will be purchas- ing the BWSC plant for €220 mil- lion, €70 million of which will go for the conversion of the plant to gas. In addition, he said, government has yet to publish the contract signed with Electrogas Malta Con- sortium which was awarded the power purchase and gas supply agreements by Enemalta. "This government promised trans- parency but it's full of secrets," Pul- licino said, adding that the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had started negotiations with the Chinese gov- ernment when he still was leader of the opposition. "We have nothing against the Chi- nese government but it must be said that there was no call. The Chinese company was chosen directly and only god knows what the deal really involves," he said. Pointing out that the Opposition is against losing energy sovereignty and f lexibility, Pullicino said "now the energy sector will be control- led by private and foreign interests". Insisting that the deal with the Chi- nese company violated Labour's promise not to privatise the corpo- ration, he asked, "will you sell any more shares at Enemalta?" Another broken promise, Pul- licino said, was the Prime Min- ister's promise that all Enemalta employees would maintain their take-home-pay. He explained that during a meeting held this week, Enemalta employees were given four options. "Enemalta employees were given an option to join Shanghai Electric Power on a three-year contract in Malta, the second option was that of joining Shanghai Electric Power in Europe also on a definite contract, the third to join Electrogas on a def- inite contract and the fourth option given was that of staying at Enemal- ta on basic pay, meaning they would lose their shift allowances." In his reply, the energy minister did not make an outright denial, but explained that the Enemalta em- ployees who would move to external companies would be seconded and the option to work abroad was an "opportunity". THE compromised conditions under which the police work was brought out starkly in the television programme Re- porter on TVM, with the inspector who heads the police prosecution unit point- ing out that his take home pay is a mere €1,200 per month. Inspector Sandro Camilleri works 46.5 hours a week, and is not paid overtime. He has almost 20 years of service to his credit. Camilleri also criticised the way that promotions are made, based on seniority rather than qualifications and skills. He is proud to be pioneering the set- ting up of the Police Union, to give as much of a voice to those officers who un- til now have never had the opportunity to make their case about work practices and other forms of injustices. Programme presenter Saviour Balzan asked about the tools they need to work efficiently within the context of a court of law. "You lack the tools to prosecute. Your time is divided between investiga- tion, reporting and maintaining a police presence at different events, aside from your commitments in court. Is this the truth, does it frustrate you?" he asked. The reply was blunt. Inspector Camill- eri said: Yes. In Europe, he pointed out, Malta's is the only police force which still pros- ecutes. "We follow the English system, which has not been in use otherwise for about 40 years. When we travel abroad and say that we are prosecutors as well as police officials, we are often met with disbelief. There are times when there is a conflict of interest – after investigating and becoming involved, we are expected to prosecute as well. "Another problem is that, as you men- tioned, officers are primarily either in- vestigators or prosecutors. Not everyone can do both well. A problem which police officials face is that they cannot dedicate enough time to investigations because their mornings are spent in court. That is a reality. As head of the prosecution unit, I see the reality of the problem." Asked whether there tentative dis- cussion to change this state of affairs, Camilleri replied he was in the legal of- fice with the police commissioner before the latter took up his post. "Yes," he said, "we have spoken about this and he agrees that we must move away from this sys- tem. We've gone as far as preparing a report". It was pointed out to the inspector that often the police bring forward a case that is less than watertight, which may result in hostily. Asked whether this was the fault of the police or the judiciary, Camilleri said that although he "cannot generalise", he agrees that, "some cases may be weaker than others, based on ev- idence. But this hostility bothers me and the terminology used bothers me. The use of the words 'we won the case' or 'we lost the case' – who won or lost? Our job is to provide all the evidence we can." It was pointed out to him that there are some people, for example, who failed or have not paid their VAT and are sent to jail. Instead of doing community serv- ice, they are imprisoned. There are also those 'migrants' who escape from deten- tion centres. Camilleri said that a problem they of- ten faced is how to deal with minors. "If a minor has broken probation, we have no secure place to send them. "One frustrating element in this regard is that many people do not seem to care about any punishment other than im- prisonment. "They consider a suspended sentence or probation as the accused having gotten away scot free. Prison is the ul- timate. Often minors have this attitude too. There is a perception of the system that only prison is real punishment." Work conditions demotivating the police Malta's citizenship programme PAGE 1 "In less than 12 weeks since its launch, Henley & Partners have seen over 100 individuals make financial commitments to the pro- gramme, which will total over €100 million in foreign direct investment." According to the citizenship planning consultants, the for- eign direct investment compris- es deposits, bonds, medical in- surance, and real estate among other elements, and equates to almost €10 million per week. "The Malta Individual Inves- tor Programme was carefully developed and constructed to ensure that it would be highly attractive to the right kind of individuals. The early success of the programme is a testament to its viability and security, and gives a clear indication of the significant benefits that it will bring to the country of Malta," Kälin added in the press state- ment. Describing the concession- aires as "true experts in the industry", IIP CEO Jonathan Cardona said the government hoped the successful pace will be maintained. "Henley & Partners have im- plemented the program with such speed and created such early impact. We are clearly working with the true experts in their industry," Cardona said. According to Cardona, the clients seeking Maltese citizen- ship are "extremely talented and established individuals and families with the highest pro- fessional standards". "They bring with them the sort of networks which can take the Maltese economy to the next level. Henley & Partners are showing clear and demon- strable experience and exper- tise in this field, and we look forward to continuing to devel- op the success of this important programme with them." Following a number of amendments pushed by the Maltese parliament, and after it was green-lit by the European Commission, the citizenship- by-investment programme was launched in March. Henley have been marketing the programme as one that "of- fers citizenship in an EU mem- ber state that is stable, neutral and highly respected with an efficient application process, and the world's strictest due dil- igence standards and vetting of applicants, thus ensuring only highly respectable clients will be admitted". Henley & Partners was award- ed a Public Services Concession in 2013 by competitive tender with regard to the design, im- plementation and international promotion of the IIP. Enemalta smart meter scam a 'Labourite racket' MP says Opposition MP George Pullicino says energy meter scam was a Labourite plot to damage Enemalta under previous administration, energy minister taunts him that it could be his last speech as his shadow Sandro Camilleri: "We follow the English system, which has not been in use otherwise for about 40 years"