It is the summer season and yet again no break from the usual political controversies. It is also the festa season, and Birżebbuġa will celebrate the feast of St Peter next weekend. This is usually a time when we, the councillors, are focused on assisting the local band clubs and other organisations to prepare for the big day.

The Freeport issue, which is a constant headache for us, does not normally feature in the meetings held in July prior to the feast.

This year was different, as the Labour Party chose to disturb our usual routine and organised a pantomime through its mayor and local councillors. Last Wednesday at midday we were asked to attend an urgent meeting to discuss the Freeport operations. For a moment, I thought I had missed something that might have happened within the Freeport, despite living a stone’s throw away from it.

Let me be clear from the outset. The Freeport has been an inconvience for the Birżebbuġa community since its inception in the 1980s. We understand that its contribution to the Maltese economy is vital, but the residents are paying a heavy price, such as sleepless nights, because of the excessive noise. We as a council are working on a daily basis to mitigate such inconveniences. The opposition to increasing the Freeport footprint is one thing that we, the councillors of both parties agree upon.

On my arrival at the council’s office last Wednesday, and to my surprise, I found a number of journalists, who somehow appeared to know something I did not.

At the start of the meeting, the mayor pulled the rabbit out of the hat and said there it was a motion condemning the leader of the Opposition for his comments in response to an earlier declaration by the Prime Minister regarding the Freeport operations.

It is unbecoming of the Prime Minister to use the Freeport to mitigate the onslaught he is receiving over his deceit in the gas tanker issue

Simon Busuttil’s words have been intentionally twisted. Never did the PN leader say that the footprint of the Freeport should be extended, let alone that any such extension should be on ODZ.

I presented a counter motion, which, among other things, asked for the Freeport to build a better relationship with the Birżebbuġa community by means of corporate social responsibility initiatives. I want the Freeport to recruit more workers from Birżebbuġa. I want this entity to fund more environmental projects which the residents benefit from.

The Freeport can expand its existing footprint, and this is exactly what Busuttil had in mind. There are two big operations independent of the Freeport operating from the same site, Medserv and the oil tanking. The government should consider relocating these operations so the Freeport is given more space. Never did Busuttil suggest development outside the development zone.

In the last part of my motion I suggested that my fellow councillors join me in asking the government to inform us about the impact of the gas tanker which is to be berthed in the residents’vicinity. The labour councillors defeated my counter-motion and went ahead approving theirs.

This was an orchestrated schenanigan designed by the PL’s administration through their puppet councillors. But why has the PL organised this pantomime? There is a very simple explanation. In one word, it is called alienation. In a few more words, the PL has a massive problem with its supporters in Birżebbuġa.

Before the last general election, Joseph Muscat and his candidates promised everything to all and sundry. After the election Karmenu Vella was appointed a minister, and for a brief period the locals had a point of reference. When Muscat removed Vella, the Birżebbuġa residents had no one to turn to in time of need. They were abandoned.

Secondly the electorate in Birżebbuġa (and Marsaxlokk) were never told prior to the last general election that a gas tanker the size of three football pitches would be permanently berthed metres away from their properties. No wonder the families are angry at Muscat and the Labour government.

I meet these families on a daily basis and know their sentiments very well. I know they are angry at Muscat and his government and so does the Labour Party. One can therefore understand why during the Birżebbuġa festa week, Labour tried without success to twist and spin Simon Busuttil’s words.

I must say that I am disappointed by Muscat’s choice to make out of the Freeport a political football. It is unbecoming of the Prime Minister to use such an important commercial entity in Malta to mitigate the onslaught he is receiving over his deceit in the gas tanker issue.

Joseph Muscat has only himself to blame over the tanker issue. He should have been politically honest.

Hermann Schiavone is a Nationalist Party candidate and political analyst.

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