Labour leader speaks of 'institutionalised' corruption

The country is being run for the benefit of the rich and the powerful, Labour leader Alfred Sant said yesterday amid claims of "institutionalised" corruption.

The government was being strong with the weak, but adopted a completely different attitude with the rich, Dr Sant told supporters during a political activity in Qormi.

In a speech punctuated with attacks on the government's "arrogance", the Labour leader once again lambasted the decision to extend the development boundaries, saying it had opened a "sack of corruption".

There were different and more transparent means of rectifying the 1988 development anomalies, Dr Sant told those present, but, instead, the Cabinet intervened in the matter to try and win votes.

He referred to a stretch of irrigated land earmarked for development in the area known as Tal-Papa, in Birzebbuga, which he described as a "crime against the environment".

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority came into Dr Sant's line of fire for giving the go-ahead to development at Pender Place, in Paceville. He said the authority came down hard on ordinary people who wanted to make slight alterations to their balcony because they were not "friends of friends" and did not have millions of liri to squander.

The Labour leader also accused the Prime Minister of lacking the ability or the backbone to reshuffle the Cabinet.

Dr Sant referred to pirated CDs that were allegedly sold during a social activity organised by the friends of Foreign Minister Michael Frendo.

In a statement, the ministry said Dr Frendo was in France on the night of the social activity. It added that Dr Frendo reacted immediately on hearing the news and called the Police Commissioner to investigate at once. Furthermore, the person allegedly involved in the case, who works in the minister's secretariat, has been asked not to report for work for the time being.