Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/376810
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 2014 3 News Energy thieves to pay 200% of stolen electricity in damages MATTHEW VELLA FINES for the theft of electric- ity have risen twentyfold, in new amendments to the Electricity Sup- ply regulations. Consumers caught stealing energy will have to pay additional fines of up to 200% of the consumption stolen, over and above the cost of the energy used, following a change in regula- tions that has been introduced. The new regulations are the lat- est in a string of actions by the en- ergy ministry since the magnitude of electricity theft became known in the last year, with millions haemor- rhaged from Enemalta's revenues over the years. A racket of tampered smart meters, which were previously believed to be tamper-proof, was uncovered by En- emalta and ministry officials in what is believed to have cost the state util- ity millions in revenues which were lost to theft. There have been sev- eral cases in court, and some convic- tions. The new regulations will replace the 2006 legislation that imposed a penalty of 10% of the total amount due for the supply of electricity, in addition to the payment for the con- sumption itself. Penalties will rise even higher for repeat offenders. In such cases, the settlement charge payable increases to 400% of the value of the electric- ity stolen. In the case of obstinate perpetra- tors who fail to learn their lesson even after the second attempt, the 200% penalty will be multiplied by the number of times they would have been found out. Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi had said that electricity theft regulations introduced by the former admin- istration in 2006 were being over- hauled to act as a greater deterrent to this kind of abuse. Government sources confirmed that the minister had recently en- dorsed the new tough regulations proposed by Enemalta, paving the way for their introduction in a few weeks' time. Under the new Electricity Supply rules, consumers who receive an un- lawful supply of electricity or those responsible for tampered meters and energy theft and have their supply suspended, will be obliged to pay back the value of the energy stolen, and in addition pay a supplementary 200% of the value of the energy ob- tained unlawfully. AIR Malta CEO Louis Giodimaina (pictured) has tendered his resigna- tion, with sources saying he quit "for personal reasons". MaltaToday understands that the former Air Malta chief engineer, who only returned to the national airline as chief executive in early Novem- ber, clashed with the new Air Malta chairman, Maria Micallef, who was appointed in July. This is the second major resigna- tion at Air Malta after the departure of chairman Ray Fenech, and before that, the top-tier management that led the Air Malta restructuring with chief executive officer Peter Davies. Sources close to the national airline have told MaltaToday that Air Malta is looking at an unfavourable deficit for the 2014-2015, according to fore- casts, but this newspaper has been unable to confirm the extent of the losses feared. Giordimaina has over 36 years' ex- perience in the aviation industry, having joined Air Malta' engineering department in 1975 as an aircraft en- gineer. He occupied various positions in the department, with additional ac- tive roles in the airline strategic plan- ning, aircraft purchasing, sale and leasing as well as contract negotia- tions. In 1994 he was appointed the first Maltese chief engineer of the na- tional airline. He was instrumental in setting-up Lufthansa Technik Malta, a joint venture between Lufthansa Teck- nik and Air Malta, of which he was appointed CEO in 2002. He occu- pied this role until 2011 after which he was retained as director of the company until September 2013. In 2006 he also spearheaded Lufthansa Technik Malta's expan- sion, which saw the construction of new hangars and facilities. Af- ter this expansion, the company increased its local workforce from 140 to 600 to become one of the major worldwide Maintenance and Repair Organisation (MRO) players, based in the centre of the Mediterranean. In 2008 he was appointed chair- man of the Water Services Corpo- ration and in November 2011 he was appointed executive chairman of Enemalta. C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi Air Malta CEO Louis Giordimaina resigns Ray Fenech