Over the past few years, this country invested greatly: in business, infrastructure, tourism. Investment that means we can generate increased economic activity. The best investment we carried out was in education, which allows individuals to reach their maximum potential in their work, as well as personal life.
It is not true we are completely dependent on oil for our energy needs
Unfortunately, Labour governments have always reduced investment in almost all sectors and education was no exception. In 1987, not only did the Labour Government not leave a good infrastructure but left no infrastructure.
We are once again under a Labour Government.
Many hoped that it would be different to previous Labour governments. Yet, within five weeks, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo shot down this dream. In an interview, he stated that he would not pursue the programme to build a new school every year.
This programme has been underway for five years and would have continued.
Former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had listed eight new schools that were going to be built at least until 2020, including a resource centre for students with a disability.
This news starkly contradicts what was stated in the Labour Party electoral programme, where it pledged to continue with the projects.
The Labour Government is able to finance an excessively large Cabinet, spending an added €100 million over five years in ministerial salaries and staff. Yet, they opted not to invest in new schools for our children. A new school costs about €11 million.
Instead of financing Cabinet, the Labour Government could have built 10 new schools over the next five years.
We chose to build schools instead of spending the money on ministers and their staff.
What a difference in priorities – April 20.
Land reclamation
In principle, we are not opposed to land reclamation.
Yet, studies that have been carried out indicate that we face great limitations.
A study commissioned by Mepa in 2004 established that land reclamation, particularly to create an island, is not economically viable.
We do not have the volume of material to make this possible and our seas are very deep. Importing materials makes such projects less viable.
Preliminary studies were also carried out on six sites around Malta. Eventually, another study was commissioned to examine two of these sites in more detail. These sites were along the coasts of Magħtab and Xgħajra.
Land reclamation along the coast of Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq was excluded for ecological reasons, even though this would have been economically viable.
A land reclamation project along the coast of Xgħajra was estimated to cost between €250 and €440 million.
The Nationalist Government received a proposal to build a marina and a good number of villas on reclaimed land off the coast of Marsascala near the former Jerma Hotel. The developers were directed to Mepa to have all the necessary studies carried out on the ecological impact on the coast and sea.
One cannot be overly enthusiastic. There are realistic limitations. One must tread carefully.
The Labour Government has long openly favoured land reclamation. Now the Prime Minister has asked all those who have such projects in mind to approach the Government.
I suspect that the land reclamation issue is strongly tied to the secret trip by contractors to Dubai, together with Labour Party officials, a few years ago. Dubai developed the famous Palm Islands. The sea there is sandy and only 12 metres deep. In our case, the depth is up to 50 metres or more and the ecology is far more sensitive – April 19.
He still doesn’t get it
We are seeing a repeat of an Alfred Sant-style government, set on commissioning reports on the shortcomings of the previous government to hide behind. The most typical is Minister Leo Brincat – going from one place to another trying to seek out defects.
He toured the Family Park in Marsascala, which has been visited and enjoyed by thousands of families ever since it was inaugurated this February. He failed to mention the fact that this park was built on a landfill created by a Labour Government in the 1970s.
It was the Nationalist Party that transformed it into a public and recreational space, epitomising the Nationalist Government’s vision for the south of the island.
He announced that a committee would be set up to examine the air quality in the area. He seems to be unaware that the (Labour) mayor of Marsascala already participates in an independent committee whose aim is to analyse air quality and environmental health.
The minister stated that works are still underway in the park and that it should not have been opened to the public. While some works are still underway in a small area of the park, this in no way affects the use of the park, as the many thousands of visitors may attest.
He went on to claim that we didn’t think of the staff needed to run the park.
The reality is that Brincat is in a state of panic because, whereas previously the Parks Unit was assisted by personnel from the Works Division, the two entities now fall under separate ministries and Brincat was left without workers or security officers.
Brincat should realise he is minister and no longer Opposition spokesman. His job is now to deliver. If the ministries and departments have been redistributed and scattered, leaving his ministry without capital funds, then this is proof of the lack of coordination within this Government.
It is up to him to find solutions, rather than seek to place the blame elsewhere – April 18.
Clean energy
In the President’s speech, we were told that, together with the private sector, the Government would invest heavily in solar and renewable energy. He went on to say that this is still a country that relies completely on oil. Yet another case of sweeping statements that seek to throw mud at the previous Government and lead us to believe that the sun is now rising with the new Government.
It is worth recalling some facts. Thanks to the schemes launched in 2009 and 2010 and an investment of €18 million, about 6,800 families benefitted from grants to purchase photovoltaic panels.
This aside from another €16 million through which we supported 270 business owners or factories in investing in alternative energy systems. Today, we already get 20MW from PV panels.
Also, with the tender issued by the Government and the €21 million EU-funded scheme, which I announced just before the election, it is calculated that we will obtain another 21MW. This means that during the day we will have a capacity of 41MW, that is 10 per cent of our country’s maximum peak demand, which is 430MW.
So it is not true that we are completely dependent on oil. True we lag behind because we began to focus on this sector late but we have made substantial leaps and bounds over the past five years.
We had already taken the necessary steps to develop solar farms, so much so that in the November 2012 Budget, we had established rates for feed-in tariffs for systems larger than 1MW.
While we understand that the country is restricted by size and availability of land, this doesn’t mean that we cannot have smaller solar farms, which we are in favour of as long as they are not in ecologically- or aesthetically-sensitive zones – April 18.
http://georgepullicino.blogspot.com
George Pullicino is a Nationalist MP.