Opposition leader Simon Busuttil warned this evening that the wages of at least half of Malta's workforce are not keeping up with inflation.

He also warned that government recurrent expenditure is 'exploding' and there will be problems if the current level of government revenue cannot be maintained.

Speaking in Parliament, Dr Busuttil explained how the Opposition had criticised the Budget for being cosmetic and lacking vision.

He said the Budget was cosmetic because what was promised would not necessarily be realised. The government had itself admitted that a quarter of last year’s Budget proposals were not implemented.

For example, many measures for Gozo had been mentioned in several Budget speeches but never saw the light of day, such as the casino, the fast ferry service, the air strip, the fibre optic link, the new law courts building, the home for the elderly, the new yacht marina and cruise liner terminal.

Last year, the government promised a pool, a museum, a buoy in Xlendi, and a home for persons with disabilities. It also promised the tunnel, and in a year only issued a call for studies, so even the studies had yet to start.

In the social sector, the government promised reforms in the carers’ allowance and pensions, but they did not happen. The people were promised a €50 million social housing project last year, but not even one stone was laid, and the same promise was made again this year.

The Marsaxlokk breakwater had been promised in every budget, and nothing had been done yet.  

This budget failed to project a vision for the country’s future. What jobs should today’s children be aiming for? What assurance were today’s adults being given on their quality of life in the future?

Not enough to have a strong economy

Dr Busuttil said the PN's policies were built around four main pillars.

Firstly, it was not enough to have a strong economy. The country needed an economy which benefited the people. Secondly, the government had to have a social purpose.

Thirdly, all the people should enjoy a good quality of life, such as in health, education, the environment, and the infrastructure.

Fourthly, the country needed to have good governance by a government which set a good example.

Dr Busuttil said the opposition welcomed economic growth. But if the economy was doing well, why had the government not presented a better budget for the people? 

It was good that the deficit was down, but recurrent spending had exploded by almost a billion euro under this government. What would happen if revenue did not remain as good as it was now?  

Even Alfred Sant had sounded a word of caution.

Recurrent spending rising fast, capital expenditure down

The government’s lack of vision was evidenced by the way how recurrent spending was rising fast, while capital expenditure next year would be the least in this legislature, showing lack of investment.

Public debt in real terms, not the percentages which the government used, was up by €5.8 billion, Dr Busuttil said.

He insisted that the PN never said it would sack anyone in the public service. Those who said so were lying, Dr Busuttil said. But people should be engaged in the public service where they were needed, such as health and education. 

Financial services: companies have left because of Panama scandal

The Opposition leader ciriticised the government for not exploring new areas of economic activity, including fintech.

He said the Panama scandal had put pressures on the financial services sector. Some companies which used to pay millions in tax had left Malta because of this scandal and other companies had put off investment here.

It was of concern, Dr Busuttil said, that industrial production and exports were down. The government could have helped the manufacturing sector be more competitive by reducing power tariffs in line with the drop in oil prices, but that had not happened.   

Once Dr Muscat had been such a champion of power tariff reductions before the election, why was he now not reducing the tariffs, when the oil price was down by two-thirds, apart from the savings on the interconnector and the BWSC plant.

Once Malta did not need the new power station, why was the government forging ahead? Why had the government committed to buy electricity from Electrogas at a higher cost than from the interconnector? The interconnector would save Malta some €100m a year compared to the cost of power from Electrogas.

What sense did this make, unless there was filth in the government?

The PN government would buy power from the cheapest source, Dr Busuttil reiterated. The savings would be handed to the people. 

A PN government would also withdraw the €360 million guarantee given to Electrogas and use the money for business start-ups.

Wages down in real terms

Dr Busuttil said the manufacturing sector and other sectors as well, had, over the past year seen 'real' wages actually decline. Wages were not keeping up with inflation, as the government's own Economic Survey showed.  

In all, some 70,000 workers were seeing a drop in their real wage. As a result, more were opting for part-time work along with their full-time employment. 

Furthermore, costs were rising. The recent Caritas report on the minimum necessary for a family to live decently showed how the cost of the same basket of goods used in its ongoing surveys had risen by €800 in three years. The government had not sufficiently compensated the people for this, even in this so-called 'social budget'. It was no wonder that those in poverty or at risk of poverty had risen.

The PN wanted to adopt the same formula used by Caritas to ensure that people did not fall below the poverty line.  

PN proposals taken on board

It was good, Dr Busuttil said, that the government adopted the PN proposals to remove tax on government pensions and on dividends paid through the Malta Stock Exchange.

It was also good that the increases in rent on social housing had been rescinded. Those increases had not been introduced by the former government, as Labour mistakenly claimed, Dr Busuttil said.

The raise in rent subsidies for small income people was also positive.

The government, Dr Busuttil said, should also act over the predicament of tenants, mostly elderly people, facing eviction after a court ruled that a law converting emphyteusis to rent was unconstitutional.  

The government, he said, was not heeding the people's needs, such as those needing to buy expensive medicines such as Lyrica, used by those who suffered fibromyalgia, and those who had bone density issues.

A PN government, he said, would, as a start, give the elderly all medicines for free.  

Dr Busuttil said it was interesting that the government had issued an international call for the former Mtarfa hospital to become an international school. But why had an international call not been made for the so-called American University of Malta. What was behind the short meeting with the prime minister that settled everything?

On the health sector, Dr Busuttil said the PN was against the privatisation of the health sector. Profits should not come before health. Fresh plans to privatise the mental health sector should be stopped, although clearly, the sector should be reformed.

Traffic

Dr Busuttil said the government had failed miserably in the traffic sector. In some cases, the situation was made worse. For example, the Gozo Channel cargo service from Mġarr to Sa Maison had been stopped, meaning cargo traffic on large trucks now had to use the congested roads. 

Solutions were needed. Two years ago he proposed free school transport for all, so that fewer parents would drive their children to school. The government ignored the suggestion, but a future PN government would implement it.  

The PN had issued a report with many recommendations which the government ridiculed, then included in its own transport strategy document.

This government was even proposing a congestion tax and a tax on parking.

A PN report by Tonio Fenech on a long-term transport strategy proposed a state-of-the art tramway or light railway which also linked Malta and Gozo through a tunnel. Efficiency would be such that people would leave their cars at home.

The government was now coming around to the PN's way of thinking and he was calling for consensus on such long-term projects, Dr Busuttil said.  

In other points, Dr Busuttil spoke against land reclamation for speculation. He called for afforestation projects and better management and rehabilitation of Magħtab. 

LNG tanker

Turning  to the LNG tanker berthed at the power station, Dr Busuttil said the External Emergency Plan spoke of evacuation procedures for workers and even residents if there was a major incident, but the people were not being told how many people may need to be evacuated, and from which localities.

The report also mentioned an operational emergency plan which would be mailed to households so that people would know what to do if, God forbid, there was an emergency. But rather than informing the people on such a safety issue, this part was deleted from the report.  

Corruption

In the last part of his speech Dr Busuttil insisted that Malta needed a government which did not have a corrupt mentality. He had been told that on (Social Policy Minister) Michael Farrugia's ministry, people were receiving phone calls asking them if they needed a recommendation. 

People were also being passed over, on orders from Castille, in hospital appointments. People were being given favours, to the detriment of others, he said.

At the Emergency Department notice board, people were being told to phone a particular person for medical visas for Libyans. 

Dr Busuttil promised justice for all those suffering injustice, saying the PN would stand by those who suffered vindictiveness such as when they were passed over for promotion or overtime. 

Panama scandal - Time will tell who 'Egrant' is

Dr Busuttil said the opposition would not let the government sweep the Panama Papers scandal under the carpet. 

This scandal would continue until Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri were removed, but once they were still there, the problem was now Joseph Muscat, who could only be regarded as an accomplice. Maybe the prime minister knew who Egrant was? Time would tell.

The people wanted an honest government that had vision, that offered opportunities for all, that helped those in need and improved the quality of life for all. It was that which a future PN government woudl deliver, Dr Busuttil concluded.  

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