Labour leader Joseph Muscat insisted today that the work of MEPs was relevant to the ordinary life of the Maltese and Labour’s MEPs had a record to be proud of.
Dr Muscat said the Labour MEPs had brought about the lifting of the tax on satellite dishes and helped bring about the lifting of the departure tax. They were continuing to work for VAT on vehicle registration tax to be refunded.
They had also helped bring about cuts in roaming charges for mobile telephony, a cheaper system for the registration of medicines and the implementation of the Late Payments Directive for the recovery of debts, mostly by SMEs.
Dr Muscat said the Labour MEPs had been involved in ensuring that Maltese workers could decide on how much overtime they worked, and they also defended the interests of port workers.
They, he said, would continue to work so that workers who found themselves out of a job would have a right for a moratorium on their loan repayments.
He said Labour’s work had led the government to improve the conditions for part-time workers.
Thanks to the Labour MEPs, Dr Muscat said, the EU had now given the go ahead for governemnt subsidies on inter-island flights and the government, therefore, could subsidize flights to Gozo.
The Labour MEPs, he said, had also spoken in the interests of the people of Qajjenza with regard to the gas plant, and the people of Marsascala on the waste recycling plant.
Looking to the future, Dr Muscat said the Labour MPs would focus on consumer rights and patients’ rights, among other factors. Prices, he said, needed to be monitored and they had to be fair. And patients should know when operations would be held in public hospitals. Drivers, he said, should be able to claim for damages caused by poor roads.
The MEPs would also insist on the implementation on Labour’s proposals on dealing with illegal immigration. They would also back calls for longer maternity leave.
Dr Muscat said Labour was continuing to insist on officials assuming political responsibility for several serious failures such as the VAT Department fraud, the mistakes in Matsec exam papers and the contract awarded for the extension of the power station using old and environmentally harmful plant.
One had to see, Dr Muscat said, how people who sat on the adjudicating panel on the power station contract and on the Climate Change Committee said different things at different times.