Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi should be held responsible for the 7,000 jobs that had been promised at SmartCity in the last election but never materialised, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday.

“Dr Gonzi’s promises have failed spectacularly,” Dr Muscat said outside the business complex.

He said Labour was committed to the SmartCity project and was thinking on the same lines as the investors with whom it had already held detailed discussions.

Dr Muscat vowed that Labour would attract ICT investment from countries like China, Singapore and India, with an emphasis on “born global” companies, which were designed from their conception for global reach.

Asked whether the 7,000 jobs promised at SmartCity had been absorbed in other companies, Dr Muscat said the lack of jobs at SmartCity would have a direct or indirect impact on the economy regardless.

Responding to Dr Muscat, the Infrastructure Ministry said SmartCity was being built quickly and according to schedule, employing hundreds of people in construction and in businesses. It said Dr Muscat was trying to make the project his own after years of criticising it.