Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this morning that while divisions were expected to be taken in parliament in the coming weeks, he was confident that the country would continue moving forward focusing most on the over-riding priority of safeguarding jobs.

Dr Gonzi was replying to questions at a press conference in which he highlighted the government's achievements in the past four years (see separate story).

He repeatedly declared that jobs were the priority of the government's agenda.  He pointed out that he would shortly inaugurate the new Aviation Park, highlighting the success which Malta is achieving in aviation services.

The government was also focusing on the bio-park near San Gwann since he was confident that biotechnology would be a source of major growth for Malta in the coming 10 years.

Dr Gonzi said the government was committed to clamping down on precarious jobs and in terms of legislation which came into force in December, no exploitation would be tolerated.

JOBS IN GOZO

Regarding job creation in Gozo, Dr Gonzi said a number of schemes introduced in  the past four years, including a jobs subsidy scheme, had given positive results and more work would be done in this direction. Clearly more needed to be done to encourage investors to open factories in Gozo and the government would seek to address this issue.

OIL EXPLORATION

Dr Gonzi said there had been no developments yet on efforts for joint oil exploration with Italy, Tunisia or Libya in waters which are disputed but the government remained committed to reach solutions.

VOTES IN PARLIAMENT

On the situation in parliament, Dr Gonzi said voting had taken place on bills and motions, but there had been no divisions. Business had, however, continued, including the debate on the Budget Measures Implementation Bill.

Ultimately it was up to the Opposition to call divisions and he was confident that divisions would be called in the coming weeks. He was confident that the country would move forward.

The most important thing for the country was economic results and while everything needed to be tackled, the most important thing for the country was jobs and the country should not lose its focus.

GAS PRICES

On the Maundy Thursday gas price increases, Dr Gonzi said requests for price rises were assessed by the Malta Resources Authority. However, it was well known that international oil and gas prices had risen. One could not, therefore, keep prices artificially low in Malta, for electoral purposes.

The government did not benefit from such rises. Fuel tax was a flat rate per litre not a percentage of the price. Ultimately, he said, the country needed to be competitive, without families being heavily burdened. That was why the government had immediately raised the energy benefit for eligible low income families when the gas prices rose.

He disagreed however, that prices should go down for everyone. That would mean subsidising the rich. The government would continue to help those who were in need while ensuring that the other sectors of society continued to do well. It was for that reason, for example, that the government was helping SMEs.

DEFICIT

Dr Gonzi said he was confident that the country would keep within its deficit targets. It was important that Malta was financially stable because that attracted investment, he said. But the overriding priority was to safeguard jobs, because that was what the people needed most.

BUDGET CUTS

Reacting to criticism of budget cuts, Dr Gonzi said that spending in most areas this year remained higher than it was last year.

He said that in view of international developments between November and January, Malta, along with all other European countries, took new measures to control their spending.

Therefore, the increase in spending projected for this year had been reduced, although it was still higher than last year in areas such as education and health.