Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/453115
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 28 JANUARY 2015 5 News 11,500m2 greenhouse complex proposed Project aims to produce solar power and reduce water consumption JAMES DEBONO A massive greenhouse complex covering approximately 11,500m2 – the size of a football pitch and a half – is being proposed at Fid- dien in Rabat. The greenhouses will have a maximum height of 3.5 metres. The project involves a clear trade off between land use and landscape considerations and en- vironmental benefits in energy and water conservation. The complex, which has been exempted from conducting an environment impact assessment, will be developed on a plot of land of 28,000 square metres. The roofs of the greenhouses would be solar panels, which would produce energy for the na- tional grid. According to its proponents the aim is to produce fully organic vegetables and fruits for the lo- cal market and potentially for ex- port. The project also involves the construction of a 30 square metre sub-station and a 40 square metre tool room. It also includes an un- derground reservoir which would harvest the greenhouses' run off rainwater. The site abuts on the Chadwick Lakes and is located in a Level 3 area of ecological importance which serves as a buffer zone for the Wied ic-Cawsli valley system. But a screening report to as- sess whether the project should be assessed in an environmental impact assessment concludes that no significant impacts are envis- aged. The report states that the "development will be visually mitigated through an effective landscaping scheme around the site's perimeter." A permit for 550m2 of green- houses was approved in 2010. The final aim of the project is to shift to aero-farming which would decrease water consumption to 10% of that used presently. Aero-farming is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil. Marthese Portelli unsure about revoking oil trader's pardon SHADOW minister for energy Mar- these Portelli has expressed strong reservations about the possible revo- cation of the presidential pardon granted to oil trader George Farrugia on condition that he tells all he knew about oil tenders corruption at En- emalta Corporation. Portelli was speaking on the discus- sion programme 'Reporter'. "If the pardon is going to be revoked with the intention of preventing the arraignment of other persons, one should consider not revoking it," she said, after new reports of Farrugia's alleged bribery were carried in Mal- taToday. Emails published in MaltaToday show that Farrugia benefited from Malta Resources Authority insider information through former director for energy regulation, Godwin Sant. Sant is now suspended from the en- ergy ministry, where he was engaged as CEO of the Sustainable Energy and Water Conservation Unit. "Sant, whom the Prime Minister said is a high-ranking official in the Malta Resources Authority, is also the person of trust of Minister Konrad Mizzi," Portelli claimed, taking cue from reports in the newspaper Malta Independent. Standing in for Mizzi, Economy Minister Chris Cardona denied that Sant was a person of trust. "He was never a person of trust and you can confirm this from the website," Car- dona said. While Cardona defended his gov- ernment's record of governance in introducing the Whistleblower's Act and removing the time-barring of political corruption cases, Portelli insinuated that government tenders were being drawn up to such detailed specification that only the govern- ment's preferred bidder could possibly satisfy them. Cardona defended his government's decision not to publish the "com- mercially sensitive" contract with Shanghai Electric Power, the Chinese state-owned company that purchased a stake in Enemalta for €320 million. Programme host Saviour Balzan pointed out that whenever there is a request for the publication of govern- ment contracts, there is a tendency to hide behind confidentiality clauses and claims of commercial sensitivity. "This was your criticism of the BWSC contract, three years ago," he told Cardona about the then Labour Opposition's demands to see the contract for the procurement of the BWSC turbine at the Delimara exten- sion. Cardona instead deflected the con- versation onto opposition leader Si- mon Busuttil's refusal to publish the finances of the PN so as not to preju- dice his party's interests, saying this "reflected the Nationalist party's dou- ble standards". "So it's OK for Simon Busuttil not to publish commercial contracts, but the government, which has the com- mercial interests of the entire country at stake, has to publish its contracts?" he asked. Portelli was quick to reply: "Your party rallied around the cry of 'trans- parency' and yet you are presenting a 15-page [memorandum of under- standing]… the BWSC contract was over 1,000 pages long." Fuel prices Portelli also reiterated the need for the government to publish its hedging contracts on the purchase of oil, after fuel prices in Malta failed to follow the sharp downward trend of the interna- tional price of oil. "It's unclear whether the current high price of fuel is in fact due to hedging because the contracts have not been released. What was recently said in parliament is that the price will fall when the hedging contracts expire – but we are yet to see the contracts," Portelli said. Cardona however promised that a price fall reflecting the global price of oil would manifest itself within the coming days, but he defended long- term hedges, calling them "an insur- ance policy for stability" and that the dramatic fall in oil prices was impos- sible to predict. 'Reporter' is presented by Saviour Balzan and airs every Monday at 20:40 on TVM2, with a repeat at 21:55 on TVM. Marthese Portelli: Portelli was in a combative mood, insinuating that government tenders were being drafted to such detailed specifications that only the government's preferred bidder could possibly satisfy them