Sant promises tax exemptions to farmers and fishermen

Farmers, herdsmen and fishermen would be exempt from income tax for between five and 10 years under a new Labour government, Labour Party leader Alfred Sant said yesterday.

The exemption would be introduced to maintain "a balance between the needs of consumers and fishermen, herdsmen and farmers," Dr Sant said, arguing that this balance was being "smashed" by the government in its bid to join the EU.

Speaking in Sannat, Dr Sant said the exemption incentive would serve to attract more youngsters to the farming and fishing sectors.

Dr Sant described as propaganda and "deceitful" a statement sent to farmers by Agriculture Minister Ninu Zammit, outlining the EU package for the sector and the financial assistance - amounting to Lm77 million and a further Lm19 million in rural development funds.

The document, he said, was "shameful" because the subsidies would dry up after around two years and "what would happen then?".

Moreover, the subsidies would mean the introduction of extra taxes, he argued. They would only last a while and were being inflated as a "deceitful strategy" to win votes.

Asked whether he would retain the Gozo Ministry, Dr Sant said the MLP would "keep the administrative structures" on the island, but when pressed to specify, he said that the form they would take was not important, but they would have the government's complete backing.

Subsidies on transport for Gozitan farmers and fishermen would also be retained and even improved, Dr Sant said, pointing out that, on the other hand, the present government's hands were bound by the EU to remove them.

The MLP would be modernising and restructuring operations for the agricultural sector. It would ensure that what Malta did not produce would be bought at the most convenient price from abroad, and no one would be able to take away land from farmers and herdsmen, so they could plan their future.

A package of incentives that would suit farmers and fishermen - and "not just until the elections were over" - would be introduced, Dr Sant said.

Giving his interpretation of the EU referendum result in Slovenia, Dr Sant stressed that over half of the electorate had voted in favour of the EU, unlike in Malta and he continued to insist that in Malta, "partnership" had won.

Dr Sant later attended a social activity in Victoria.