If you want to know how people are feeling, do not ask politicians and do not look for it in the media. Go to the people. People in Malta are confident about their future and feel they are making real progress.
This will be the year that consolidates our achievements. Malta’s economic strength is fundamental to this confidence as our economy is becoming one of Europe’s strongest.
People feel more prosperous and better off than they were before. Malta is working as unemployment hit its lowest levels in 35 years. More people than ever are working and fewer are dependent on social benefits as we keep cutting abuse and giving people real opportunities to climb the social ladder.
Young people are the ones benefitting most of our positive employment policies with latest figures showing hundreds of young unemployed are now working. Half way into this legislature, we helped more than 2,600 people find a job.
My vision for 2016 will remain for a country of rising social mobility where what you get in life depends on your hard work. That is how we are improving life chances for people from all social backgrounds.
This is a country where business is thriving, creating more job opportunities. A country where hardworking people are being rewarded by paying less taxes.
The economic strength and stability we returned to our country means we can invest more money in vital public services such as health and education.
Our health services, despite the difficult situation we inherited, are improving. Difficult reforms which we started early on in our term are paying off for patients.
Today, all medicines that government delivers for free are in stock, delivered on time. Waiting times for heart operations and cataracts were slashed, and people who need to be tested for cancer need not wait months to be screened and treated in time.
Waiting times in our emergency department, despite steady improvement, remain a problem. Extensions to the emergency department will be ready in 2016 to further improve the situation. All this is thanks largely to the dedicated women and men who work so hard in our hospitals and health departments.
My government will keep delivering the renewed sense of hope and optimism which the country is feeling
Education remains key to the country’s future. That is why we embarked on a €43 million upgrading and maintenance programme for our schools. Teachers, LSAs and kindergarten assistants will have new lightweight laptops. Each classroom will be equipped with touch-screen computers. The one-tablet-per-child project will be rolled out in September for all Year 4 students. State school pupils will also be using new innovative ways to tackle subjects like mathematics and physics with the of purchase new 3D scanners and printers. Aware of the challenges ahead we are laying the foundations for our children to be future-ready.
Malta’s international profile rose to new levels in 2015 as we hosted successfully two major global events, the Valletta Migration Summit and the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. This year we prepare our country to take over the presidency of the Council of the European Union in January 2017.
In 2015 we saw a record of over €1 billion in direct investment pouring into Malta, laying the foundations for new economic sectors in our country. The real benefits of these investments will start being felt in the new year.
The new power station will be up and running, improving forever the quality of the air we breathe as we see a transition from dirty fuel oil to gas. It will be yet another milestone as we transform our energy sector from a threat to the country’s stability to one of opportunity and investment.
This new year will also be crucial for our national airline, Air Malta. Like we did with our energy sector, I am confident that through careful strategic partners, Air Malta will keep flying Malta’s flag, proudly turning another challenge into an opportunity.
We will not ignore genuine problems people face. Some families still struggle to make ends meet. Others are not paid fairly for their work, which is why we keep fighting precarious employment. We will continue modernising our welfare system to provide a springboard for success, rather than a comfort zone for those who feel they failed. The fight against corrupt systems, which became ingrained in our institutions over the years, will continue.
After introducing major reforms such as the financing of political parties and a strong Whistleblower Act, we will continue to tackle governance issues across public administration by taking bold decisions. We will also make sure that the reforms in our planning authority and the new environment authority work in favour of environmental protection.
Time and again, we will find the Opposition hell-bent on dividing the country in a relentless negative campaign.
My government will keep delivering the renewed sense of hope and optimism which the country is feeling. It is this sense of optimism and the fundamental belief that we are changing things for the better, which will continue to propel the country in the right direction.
Joseph Muscat is Prime Minister.