The government did not do the right thing when it regularised the illegal boathouses in Armier by installing smart meters, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said yesterday.

Speaking at an Independence activity organised on the Granaries by the Nationalist Party, Dr Busuttil insisted that his policy, if he were prime minister, would be that if someone broke the law, their action would not be regularised.

Those who are doing whatever they want are given leeway

“There are many law-abiding citizens who do their utmost to follow the rules, while those who are doing whatever they want are given leeway,” he said.

The illegal shanty town has been a political hot potato for years. There are around 800 boathouses in Armier, with sources saying only about 25 per cent actually have an electricity meter. Dr Busuttil admitted that the Nationalist government might not have given enough importance to the situation of illegality at Armier, but this Labour government was going beyond and even regularising the infringements.

He was being questioned by Malta Today’s chief reporter James Debono. Asked what he would have done about the situation, he said some people had a right to a boathouse but he would not have ignored the infringements, or worse still give the occupiers a smart meter and regularise their position.

“If I were prime minister today I would not give them a smart meter and regularise the theft of public land.”

The government did not lead by example, he said, mentioning the recent sale of the Australia Hall and the government’s use of illegal billboards.

Referring to Justice Minister Owen Bonnici, who has been summoned to court over his involvement in a traffic accident, Dr Busuttil said Dr Bonnici should have considered resigning so as not influence the magistrate.

On civil unions, Dr Busuttil said were he in government, he would not remove anything from the recently enacted law but would seek to improve it.

Earlier he referred to last week’s tragedy in which 500 migrants reportedly drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean.

“We have to accept the reality of immigration. There should be more willingness on a regional level to pull the same rope. The responsibility of the disappearance of those 500 people falls on everybody, including us.

“I want to see an EU that is more united about foreign affairs so that it can be strong enough to address this issue. No one – neither the EU nor the US – has a magic wand that can solve the problem but we can be more united,” he said.

On public transport, he said that following the criticism of the former government’s introduction of the new service, he would have expected progress and not deterioration 18 months after the election of Labour to government.

Arriva was now out of the picture and the current public transport service was being managed by the government. The former government gave €10 million in subsidies per year, but this government was scared to say how much it was paying out, he said.

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