Former Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

Transferring the Victoria healthcare centre to the Gozo General Hospital would deny clients the “comfortable health care service” they have enjoyed so far, former minister for Gozo Giovanna Debono said yesterday.

Speaking during the debate in second reading of the Budget Measures Implementation Bill, Ms Debono asked whether rumours of the impending transfer were true. Such a decision, she emphasised, would have a negative impact on Gozitan residents – even though some might say it would be better to have the health centre closer to the hospital.

She said she was informed that those who visited the health centre did not require hospital treatment.

Mrs Debono was one of the six Opposition MPs who yesterday contributed to the debate, the others being Carm Mifsud Bonnici and Stephen Spiteri and newcomers Robert Cutajar, Claudio Grech and Ryan Callus

Dr Mifsud Bonnici said the economy was the previous government’s biggest priority. But what were the new administration’s priorities for the next five years?

The new ministers had to make sure they were employing know-ledgeable persons and not taking on people on the sole premise that they were Labour sympathisers. He remarked that during the past six weeks many expert and seasoned people in the civil service had either lost their job suddenly or got transferred to different departments.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici called for a clearer explanation from the EU of its latest Justice Scoreboard as many things were not clear and statistics quoted in the report did not make any sense.

Mr Grech said Malta’s financial and banking sectors remained strong and able to withstand world turbulence. The fact that Parliament had unanimously approved a budget presented by a PN government was clear proof that economically and financially Malta was on the right track. Now it was up to a Labour government to embrace all this in the framework of its elec-toral promises.

The PN never believed in austerity measures, or that controlling expenditure should come at the cost of jobs, health or education. Mr Grech said the Economic Review presented with the budget detailed how it was the knowledge-based sectors which had most value-added, together with high-end manufacturing sectors, as these were based on technology and innovation.

Mr Cutajar said it was ironic that while the Government was criticising the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools on its spending in building a new school every year, its former chairman Raymond Fenech has been appointed as the new Air Malta chairman.

He said that Mr Fenech had led the foundation wisely, adding that he would be an asset for the national airline which for the second year running had cut its losses. The Government, he said, had sent contradictory messages on the new schools’ building programme.

Mr Callus said the Government was giving the seal of approval to the previous administration. Its move last December, to vote against the budget, was simply a political one, preferring to instill instability.

Referring to the inter-connecter project, he called on Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi to present his research and conclusions in Parliament as there was no longer the need to hide the Government’s plan for the new power station.

Mr Callus said he could not understand why Environment Minister Leo Brincat had criticised the Marsascala family park. If it were not for PN government, that area would still be a rubbish dump.