Gonzi asks why Labour chose ships over pipeline, queries election funding

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi this morning again asked where Labour its getting its electoral campaign funds from, saying it must have already spent €1m in the campaign. He also continued to criticise Labour's energy plan and said it was a mystery how Labour had opted for a process - including the transportation of gas by ships - when other options such as a pipeline were cheaper. "What interest does it have in having opted for more expensive electricity?" Dr Gonzi asked. Speaking during a visit to farmers in Mgarr, he said the Labour energy plan was a gimmick of the first order, not least because its implementation would cost almost twice what Labour was saying.  It had emerged, he observed, that the 9c6 unit cost of production which Labour was speaking about did not include the profit which the private investors were expected to make. The government, Dr Gonzi said, wanted the lowest possible tariffs, but they needed to be sustainable. He did not want to see Malta suffer like Greece and Cyprus. The private sector organisations which had praised the Labour plan had done so before realising that the people would have to pay for much of it, tariffs would rise and jobs would be put...