The Prime Minister, Dr Lawrence Gonzi, said this morning that he wanted to turn Gozo into an eco-island, a model of sustainable development. This development would start with a pilot project in one village where energy would come from renewable sources, with modern waste management, better controlled air and noise quality. The government would also invest in a power cable between Malta and Sicily to ensure the security of supply, Dr Gonzi said.

Dr Gonzi also said that should he be re-elected as Prime Minister, he would not retain the finance portfolio but would instead take personal responsibility for the Malta Environment Planning Authority (MEPA). He said that reform was clearly needed to ensure there was even greater efficiency and transparency, for decisions to be uniform, for law enforcement to be strengthened and to remove any shadow of suspected irregularities.

Dr Gonzi said the environment would be a pillar of a new Nationalist government. The past few years had seen a record number of environmental projects but much more remained to be done for the environment. The two biggest environmental challenges was balancing the environment with sustainable development and the issue of climate change.

Other proposals which Dr Gonzi outlined were:

Major investment in a wind farm twenty miles off Malta to generate between 75 to 100 megawatts of clean energy, a fifth of the current output from the power station.

New incentives for families and businesses to invest in clean energy and to sell the surplus electricity produced to the national grid.

Incentives would be introduced for greater use of environment friendly measures. Each family would be given five energy saving bulbs every year for two years. Experts calculated that a family which replaced five 100W bulbs with energy saving bulbs would save €100 a year. This, would therefore mean a saving of €200 for families.

The vehicle registration tax would be replaced by a new system based on the polluter pays principle, whereby those who opted for low emission vehicles would be rewarded.