Sant suggests audit of country's finances

Opposition Leader Alfred Sant believes a future Labour government should consider commissioning an audit of the country's finances to ensure there is no tampering with statistics.

Speaking on Super 1 radio, Dr Sant suggested that a professional company should be appointed to audit the figures released by the National Statistics Office.

He insisted that despite official declarations claiming otherwise, the deficit was shrinking because the government was not making any capital investment.

Developer Charles Polidano was in the Labour leader's line of fire, after his company was involved in a controversy over alleged dumping of construction waste at sea, allegations Mr Polidano denies.

Dr Sant said Polidano Group was clearing its Qrendi quarry to make way for fresh inert waste that would yield money for the company. It was unacceptable for Mr Polidano to urge employees of his who supported Labour to deface their voting document.

"This is shameful, anti-democratic and against the law. People who wield power should not intimidate voters," the MLP leader charged.

Dr Sant referred to a report in yesterday's KullHadd, the MLP's weekly, that claimed that only 19 per cent of the SmartCity project will be reserved for IT. The government had promised the creation of thousands of jobs in IT, he said.

He recalled the Chambray construction project in Gozo that, he said, had been relegated to a project for speculators, and which has only served to blemish Mgarr harbour after it was unveiled amid great pomp in 1992.

People were realising that the Nationalists' promises often ended up being shelved, Dr Sant added.

The Ministry for IT and Investments said later Dr Sant's comments were an attempt to rubbish a project that would generate thousands of jobs. It did not respond to his claim that only one-fifth of the Smart City project would be dedicated to IT.