Labour's plan(?) for industry

If it's buzzwords and platitudes you're after, look no further than in the series of discussion draft documents issued by the Labour Party in the past weeks on several aspects of public policy. The documents, presumably with some amendments, will be presented to the party's general conference for discussion and approval as party policy later on this month.

The document on the renewal of industry is as short in its contents as it is short on new practical ideas. What the document is not short of are statements that are factually incorrect and interpretations that are clearly spurious.

In the introduction to the draft document it is stated that our entry into the European Union found a number of our enterprises unprepared or badly prepared for the change that occurred then. Isn't it wonderfully reassuring for the future that Labour can coolly forget its divisive campaign against Malta's entry into Europe causing so many problems to so many enterprises affecting their preparedness for entry! Labour sowed uncertainty from the moment it froze Malta's application for membership during its ill-fated 22 months in government and continued obstinately to obstruct any restructuring exercise entered into by the government and private enterprise alike.

Labour castigates the Nationalist government for not promoting new industries. Do we live on the same island? The newly set up pharmaceutical companies employing hundreds of workers are a reality. It is an industry that has sprung from nowhere. Similarly, with the new investments in the call centres, including the prestigious HSBC project which will absorb about 300 workers shortly. Labour is obviously conveniently ignoring these well paid, clean and challenging jobs.

The documents lament that "New investments have dried up completely". What are the ones I have just mentioned? And what about Smartcity@Malta? Isn't that not to be counted as new investment? Malta has placed quite high in the list of EU countries receiving foreign investment.

One solution which is mentioned in the introduction to the document is the promotion of pockets or niches of production, which the document says is not happening at present. A visit to Lufthansa Technik and the small enterprises being developed both in Malta and Gozo, taking advantage of our produce such as olive oil and lemons, should enlighten Labour's planners on our industrial regeneration. Incidentally, Lufthansa Technik will be expanding its operations.

In the document proper, Labour claims that its long-term ambition is to make a new start in the process of restructuring of the country's productive economy. Labour is obsessed with fresh starts as if we need to go back to year zero every time there is a change of government. It is a throwback to old Socialist times still hankered by some MLP stalwarts. In any case, this claim of a new beginning is contradicted by the contents of this and other documents where, in effect, what Labour is proposing generally is building upon the good things that have been achieved so far.

Among the productive activities that Labour intends to promote is that of repairing household goods, boots, shoes, leather item, watches, clocks and jewellery. Hardly consonant with the new-start strategy. It is a very common experience, particularly with household goods, that when you turn up at a shop asking how much does it cost to repair something, you are advised to buy a new one as it would be cheaper in the long run. Twice I tried to get a power tool repaired, once in the UK and another time in Gozo. It was cheaper to buy a new one.

The document proposes the setting up of a programme principally aimed at those who lose their jobs in the industrial sector due to redundancies and closure of factories. Why re-invent the wheel when such programmes are already in place and bearing fruit? Nowhere does the ETC get a mention in the document, an insult to the hardworking staff who are totally dedicated doing what Labour is proposing should be done.

The proposal to cut VAT on services for repairs in private and public buildings can easily become a source of abuse both by private service receivers and by the group of workers it is aimed to help, such as plumbers, electricians and plasterers, who, while enjoying a very busy work schedule most of the time, are among the categories of self-employed, both here and abroad, who do not declare their true income.

Labour suggests the setting up of apprenticeship schemes. We have to be very careful not to allow such schemes to become a conduit for encouraging students to leave school too early. Any such scheme should be part of the vocational training programmes being offered by MCAST. Labour makes no mention of this successful institution in this part of the document.

Elsewhere it refers to the "industrial culture" that distinguished Malta from other territories in the central Mediterranean area. But isn't this the same culture that in the past enticed so many youngsters, especially girls, to leave school without formal qualifications to become factory fodder? The same culture that led to illiteracy and lack of flexibility in employment.

Most of the incentives, financial and institutional, which Labour proposes to regenerate our economy are either being implemented already or have been or are being explored. At worst, this makes Labour seem very unimaginative and unprepared to govern and at best amounts to a certificate to the present administration. After all, the "new beginning" is nothing else but a continuation of all the good things being done at present.