Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said today that that it was worrying that a former senior official of the Malta Resources Authority appeared to have cleared draft legislation with oil trader George Farrugia before handing the draft to the government.

Speaking in a question-and-answer session with Labour delegates, Dr Muscat reacted to emails in the print edition of MaltaToday indicating that Godwin Sant, the former head of energy regulation at the Malta Resources Authority had disclosed information, including a draft law and minutes of meetings, to Mr Farrugia.

Dr Muscat said the police were free to continue their investigations, but it was worrying to see what was allegedly happening. Beyond the issues of the pardon granted to Mr Farrugia and the way oil procurement was made by Enemalta at the time, this issue showed the erosion of standards in the institutions. This was not something which had happened overnight but came from years of undue familiarity, when action was not taken by those who should have acted. There was also no leadership by example.

Over the long term, this country needed to consider how these institutions were run and how their officials were held accountable. It was unacceptable that people appointed to a position of trust had their first loyalty to a contractor.

Of course, he said, there were also political considerations, which one would discuss once investigations were over, and one would show how one had to take political responsibility.

The present government, Dr Muscat said, was bringing about a cultural change, to the extent that a member of the PN Executive, Michael Falzon, was now an observer in the oil procurement process. 

DRASTIC DROP IN TRUANCY AFTER CLASS ATTENDANCE

WAS LINKED TO BENEFITS

Early in the session Dr Muscat reiterated his government's commitment to continue to help students who need to repeat a year, and also to provide free lessons for those who need to resit exams. He said the two schemes had been very successful and saved the school life of many young people.

Dr Muscat also pointed out that truancy had been high in certain schools. In many cases, those who stayed away from school came from low income families. However there had been a drastic reduction this month after the government linked school attendance with social benefits.

Dr Muscat also said that by May this year the government would receive the first applications from teachers wishing to take a sabbatical to further their studies.

GOZO - STUDIES ON TUNNEL, FAST TRANSPORT

On Gozo, he said that after the studies made on a possible bridge between Malta and Gozo, studies were being made about the benefits of a tunnel. That included whether it was viable to dig a tunnel in the seabed or build a pipe-like structure on the seabed. More studies were also being made on having a 'green' airstrip and a fast ferry service between Grand Harbour and Gozo.

FUEL PRICES

On fuel prices, Dr Muscat reiterated that as hedging agreements expired, savings from new prices would be passed on to consumers, who would thus enjoy lower prices at the pump. He said hedging had been important as an insurance for stability in prices.

He also noted that as reported in Times of Malta last week, over a year Maltese motorists had enjoyed lower prices than the European average.

THE CIVIL SERVICE

When he replied to a question on the Civil Service, Dr Muscat said the country needed to have a system which rewarded those who went the extra mile and those who took decisions.

Some in the Civil Service argued that by not taking decisions, they would at least retain their place. Taking a good decision would not take them forward and taking a bad decision would have implications. But there was a difference between a wrong decision taking with good intentions, and other wrong decisions, Dr Muscat said.

He revealed that sometimes he phoned government departments incognito, to gauge how long it took form somebody to pick up the phone, how they answered and how people were treated. 

Then, as prime minister, he sometimes sent an e-mail to a government department at 4.55 pm on a Friday and got a reply on Monday at 10.30am and, on other times, he sought information at 11pm on a Saturday and got a reply at 11.30p.m. It showed, he said, how the members of the civil service should not all be put in the same basket. 

ECB QUANTITATIVE EASING

Dr Muscat referred to the decision of the European Central Bank to resort to quantitative easing, investing €60 billion a month by buying the bonds of member states. He said local savers might not like it if prices/yields dropped but it was important for Malta that the euro system recovered, especially as the other EU countries were Malta's biggest trading partners. The drop in the value of euro had made local exporting companies more competitive, especially those who used the dollar. The down side was that a lower value euro made oil purchases in dollars made expensive. 

HUNTING REFERENDUM AND LOCAL ELECTIONS

On the Spring hunting referendum, Dr Muscat reiterated (to applause) that he would vote 'yes' while everyone was free to vote as he wished.

On local council elections, he said these would be a challenge, coming in mid-term and he was sure the PN would put up a stiff challenge in localities such as St Paul's Bay and villages in Gozo which Labour had won by a small number of votes. However he would face the challenge and would be out meeting the people.

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