Local councils' special funds no 'breadcrumbs', Said says

Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said yesterday belied what the opposition spokesman on local government had said in Parliament, that the special funds that the government was allocating to local councils in the Budget were "breadcrumbs fit for pigeons".

Speaking during the debate on the Bill implementing the Budget measures, Dr Said said that the government had earmarked €70 million in special funds. It had also increased the direct allocation by €3 million and €4 million for the last two consecutive years - from €24 million in 2008 to €31 million in 2010.

The government ensured that local councils had the tools to work with. At a seminar yesterday, government and local council representatives had discussed how to utilise €2 million for a better tourist product in urban centres, €4 million for rural development and €3.5 million for clean and renewable energy.

There was another sum of €35 million to be utilised by seven Sicilian provinces and Maltese local councils under the Malta-Italia scheme.

In its electoral programme, the PN had promised a structure to help local councils maximise available funds. That structure was now in place, together with a funding unit within Meusec and an increase in co-financing from €300,000 to €500,000 in 2010.

There was also the introduction of 24 schemes which would mean millions of euros for the 44 local councils that had applied. These included public accessibility and energy-saving measures.

Dr Said said the public had shown that it was most interested in road improvement and cleanliness in their localities. A pilot project had been launched in Madliena, Mqabba and Kirkop.

The government also introduced a scheme were local councils were obliged to spend funds allotted for roads for that purpose. Through a fund of €5 million, 163 residential streets had been resurfaced. This ring-fencing exercise was being repeated this year to cater between 160 and 170 streets.

There was also the public-private partnership in roads. The specific vote for direct allocation in 2010 had been doubled, with the contractor remaining responsible for maintenance of the roads for a number of years. The tender, costing between €8 million and €10 million, would soon be published.

Dr Said maintained that such figures were by no means breadcrumbs. The PN believed in local councils which it had introduced 16 years ago. It believed in the principle of subsidiarity. The local councils had been further strengthened through amendments to the Local Council Act.

The government was sustaining this vision through adequate finances, human resources and training so that local councils would be in a position to take better decisions to maximise value for money.

At the beginning of his speech, Dr Said criticised the opposition's stand during the debate, saying that while giving the impression that everything was going downhill they had not said anything about the measures that had been announced to stimulate the economy. Hardly anything had been said about the global recession and its disastrous effects on other countries.

Although small, Malta had continued to be in a position not to introduce new taxes so as not to burden the people. The results achieved in 2009 spoke for themselves and Moody's report confirmed Malta's A1 rating, reflecting the "country's high economic resilience and the economy's robustness".

Measures were planned through a consultation process with all stakeholders, including the general public. The consultation process with the social partners had borne fruit.

One of the most important measures had already been introduced: the self-employed could apply for tax credits up to 40 per cent in Malta and 60 per cent in Gozo when they made investments in their own enterprise. The measure also took cognisance of Gozo's insularity.

The opposition had hardly said what the government was doing to compensate for the increase in utility rates.

Apart from the €7 million to 37,000 needy families, the government would be forking out €10 million more to cover practically all consumers, to ensure the increase would not have an adverse effect.

Dr Said admitted the situation was not rosy, but he invited the opposition to compare Malta's position with that of other states. The opposition had also been against Malta joining the eurozone, and if their advice had been heeded, the Maltese would now have been in dire straits.

The opposition had adopted the same attitude when Malta was applying to join the EU.

But the Moody report confirmed that "Malta's institutional strength benefited from EU accession".

The budget was a package of incentives which would benefit everybody. This year would see various EU-funded projects and initiatives materialise, like the seven kilometres of Valletta bastions to be restored, which would generate more jobs.

The government was committed to giving MCESD members a periodical progress report on what was being implemented.

Dr Said said this was also a record budget for Gozo. Two years ago the government had announced the Eco-Gozo project, which would provide a quantum leap in the quality of life.

Apart from the benefits of a record budget, Gozo would benefit from €25 million in the next three years for initiatives to strengthen tourism, SMEs and transport, where heavy investment had been made in three new vessels, the Mġarr terminal and the future Ċirkewwa terminal.