Granted that the international situation is not helping at all, the now necessary surcharge of 95% is also a result of years of negligence by this government to address Malta's total dependence on fossil fuels. Alternattiva Demokratika said that today we are paying the price for years of political neglect of energy generation policy. Throughout the recent past anyone who dared proposed investment in alternative sources of energy was ridiculed or simply ignored by government ministers.

AD spokesperson on Energy, Transport and Industry Ralph Cassar said:"Malta is completely dependent on oil for electricity production. Renewable energy production is the lowest in Europe with Eurostat quoting a figure 0f 0.3%. As recently as 6 months ago we had energy and resources Ministers Ninu Zammit and Austin Gatt, and MRA (the energy authority) rubbishing renewables. They have been proven wrong again now.

In fact, the MRA national energy saving campaign has failed to take off. To make matters worse government recently decided to stop giving rebates on energy efficient appliances as from end of this month's Trade Fair - one of the few tangible successes in this sector.

A year ago Alternattiva Demokratika had issued a set of proposals including heavy subsidies for the installation of solar water heaters and photovoltaic systems. We had also proposed, as a first step towards increased use of alternatives, a land-based windfarm of 4 to 5 750kW turbines. Electricity from land-based windfarms is much cheaper than that generated from fossils."

Ralph Cassar concluded: "Alternattiva Demokratika is also calling for heavy investment in public transportation systems - this will reduce traffic, facilitate wider pedestrianisation programmes and offer a viable alternative to expensive private transport to families hard hit by the massive increase in fuel prices."

Finally, AD Chairperson Arnold Cassola said: "We reiterate our proposal for different bands of surcharge - with different rates for those who use energy efficiently and wisely. Labour Party Leader Joseph Muscat has already said that he agrees with AD's surcharge proposal. We look forward to reaching a national consensus on this. Prime Minister Gonzi's cannot but agree on this practical and logical solution, which would allow for a fairer mechanism which rewards those citizens who do their utmost to save energy."