Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said this morning that the government was failing to come up with solutions for problems directly affecting the people, such as transport congestion, health services and crime,
Speaking in a Radio 101 interview this morning, Dr Busuttil hit out at the ‘stupid’ ideas in a government White Paper on transport.
He said the proposal to ease traffic congestion by making schoolchildren go to school early was stupid and reflected the government's lack of ideas.
Last year, Dr Busuttil said, he had proposed a national school transport service, including pupils of state and independent schools. His idea was ridiculed at the time. Now the government was trying to make it its own.
Last year the government had said his idea was too expensive to carry out, and then it raised the bus service subsidy from €10m to €30m
HEALTH SERVICE ‘DISASTER’
Dr Busuttil said there was a ‘disaster’ in the health service. The staff worked hard and did their duty, but the management of Mater Dei Hospital lacked seriousness. People were waiting in queues for hours and being treated in corridors. It had been admitted by hospital officials that the situation was close to breaking point.
This government had said it had a roadmap. But it had not come up with new solutions. Worse still, the situation it inherited two years ago had deteriorated.
To rub salt into the wound, the hospital CEO, paid €84,000 a year, was nowhere to be seen. This was a classic example of what happened when the government engaged people only because they were close to it.
But this was a government bent only on covering up institutional corruption, which was getting worse all the time.
NO ACTION ON CRIME
As Times of Malta had reported, confidence in the police force was falling. That there was something fundamentally wrong was manifested by the fact that the Force has had four commissioners in two years. This, again, was an example of how the people were suffering from the government's wrong appointments.
Several localities were suffering a wave of crime, notably burglaries. People were scared in their own homes, and the police were not there to help them.
“The people are paying the price for the government’s choices,” Dr Busuttil said.
“The government has come up with no solutions about traffic, health and crime, all of which directly affect the people, because this is a government only bent on enriching its own,” Dr Busuttil said.
Turning to unemployment, Dr Busuttil said that on paper, unemployment was down. But half of new jobs were going to foreigners, and public sector recruitment was up sharply. Was this the government’s solution to reducing unemployment?
The government had engaged 100 people per month in the past two years – over and above those who retired – Dr Busuttil said.
THE ENVIRONMENT
Earlier in his comments, Dr Busuttil said the prime minister had managed to unite everyone against him on the environment.
The latest comments against the way the government planned to de-merge Mepa had come from the environment commissioner with int he Office of the Ombudsman.
Similar comments had also been made by the PN and environment NGOs, among others, Dr Busuttil said.
What was of particular concern was how the charges would see politicians having a concentration of power on land use. The last time that had happened was in the Mintoff/Lorry Sant days, and that brought about corruption, Dr Busuttil said.
The abuse of power had become synonymous with this government. This was a government which did not use its powers to do good, but to achieve its own gain.
In his interview Dr Busuttil looked forward to the PN Independence Day celebrations. He said the PN would also celebrate its founding 135 years ago. For the first time, the celebrations would be focused on the Valletta city entrance and de Valette Square.