Corruption, assassination, and environmental destruction are keywords associated with the Electrogas power station and the Melita TransGas pipeline that Malta Government is proposing. Friends of the Earth Malta and The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation have launched a video as part of their campaign opposing the pipeline project. It uncovers the unsettling reality of the Electrogas project and the proposed Melita TransGas Pipeline which will lock Malta into burning fossil fuels for the next 40 years.

The proposed Melita TransGas pipeline, estimated to cost €400 million, has been included in the EU’s fifth list of Projects of Common Interest (PCI), making it eligible for EU funding. Clauses in Electrogas agreements are set to trigger a multi-million payout to the company once the gas pipeline is completed and connected to the Electrogas power station, rewarding the ultimate beneficial owners of the corrupt project – including Yorgen Fenech, who stands accused of commissioning the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Corruption in the Electrogas project was a core part of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s investigations, which, according to the findings of the public inquiry into her assassination, possibly motivated her murder [1]. The European Union and Malta risk not only rewarding the alleged killer of Daphne Caruana Galizia but also her murder itself.

This ‘hydrogen-ready’ gas pipeline will also distance Malta from its sustainable energy goals, as the production of hydrogen depends on fossil fuels and the pipeline would lock Malta into another 40 years of fossil fuel dependence. The video is aimed at raising awareness and encouraging the public to sign a letter at www.foemalta.org/nogas which will be sent to decision-makers both in Malta and in the EU institutions. These include Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela, Energy Minister Miriam Dalli, and Finance Minister Clyde Caruana, as well as MEPs forming part of the ITRE (Industry, Research and Energy) Committee.

This initiative is part of EU-wide actions asking for #PeopleOverPolluters led by the Fossil Free Politics Coalition.

[1] See Appendix F, ‘A serious and dangerous reality’, Public Inquiry Report, Daphne Caruana Galizia: A journalist assassinated on 16th
October 2017, 24 October 2021, p. 219. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21114883-public-inquiry-report-en