Fines and interest destroying businesses - Muscat

The fines and interests being charged by the government are legalising usury and leading many small businesses to bankruptcy, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said this morning.

Addressing a political activity, he noted that the government boasted that some 120 small businessmen had been thrown into prison because they had defaulted on their VAT payments.

But the problem for these people was not VAT but the other charges, such as water and electricity, gas and fuel costs which had drained their cash flow.

Rather than encouraging these people to again put their business on the right track for it to grow and aid the economy, the government was preferring to put these businessmen in prison, at a minimum cost for the country of €60 a day and putting their families in misery.

Just a year after the divorce issue had been discussed in Malta, when the most abused word was 'family', these people's families were being treated in such a manner.

Workers and businessmen, the Labour leader said, had to work together in the same direction to create wealth and employment.

The government, Dr Muscat said, was being vindictive with the self-employed.

The Labour leader again explained his party's policy on education through which a PL government would ensure that 16 year olds are either in education, training or have a job.

Those who left school at 16 and were still without a job after six months would be trained and encouraged to return to education for less people to become dependent on social services.

The role of the state, he said, was to uncover the people's potential.

Dr Muscat noted that 48 per cent of those seeking employment were young people and 85 per cent of them were early school leavers.

Systems which created more employment were needed, he said, adding that a new Labour government would invest in young people safeguarding the country's future for the next 20 to 30 years.

Labour, he said, could promise a brighter future were people got what they merited.

GonziPN was, on the other hand, promising the people whatever they wanted.

"This is the clientalism of the politics of yesteryear," he said.

The Labour leader referred to a statement by the chairman of Enemalta that the creation of renewable energy in Malta was next to impossible and asked for the government to clarify this statement.

He also referred to the Central Bank governor's call last week for a reduction of the deficit and pointed out that in all the years it has been in government, the PN had always spent more than it earned.

Dr Muscat said that any government could cook the books to reach his aims if he used the mentality of a junior accountant what Labour wanted was to reduce the deficit and follow EU rules by giving people the opportunity to grow.

On the partnership for peace issue, he said that the Prime Minister had now changed tune and instead of accusing Labour MPS of not knowing how to read, he was saying that was had been written by the US was not correct.

The government said the opposition should be ashamed of believing the Americans and not the government.

"They believed the Koreans over us, why should we not believe the Americans," Dr Muscat said.

He also referred to reports that new PN candidate Toni Bezzina had used government employees to carry out works at the Zurrieq PN club and then took them to make a false declaration so that everything would be hidden under the carpets. He hoped the police would investigate.