One Nationalist speaker after another yesterday tore into the government’s ‘Simplification of Measures Report 2014’, with party deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami saying that while the publication appeared positive, in practice it boiled down to no measures having been taken to increase accountability and transparency.

The 111-page report was issued by the office of Principal Permanent Secretary last week, detailing measures to reduce bureaucracy taken last year.

Speaking during the discussion in Parliament on the report, Dr Fenech Adami said the OPM had taken “the grand amount of three measures” to simplify bureaucracy. In Gozo, one measure had been taken, under which the subsidy for Gozitan students would go into the same account as their stipend. “The world will never be the same,” he said sarcastically.

These were laughable measures.This was a symptom of the general decadence of the government

Not a single measure had been taken in regard to the police and armed forces. The Lands Registry, he said, was in complete disarray. To buy a property one needed a Lands Registry certificate, which was impossible to obtain on time. Dr Fenech Adami said this government was using doublespeak.

So far as passports went, those whose document expired between April and August would now have to pay €100 as against the €70 paid by those whose passport expired between September and May. “This is not efficiency,” he said, “the government has simply raised the fee”.

The biggest decision for simplification by Minister Leo Brincat was the installation of an answering machine in the nursery at St Vincent de Paule, Dr Fenech Adami continued.

He also criticised Health Minister Konrad Mizzi for not having done anything to improve the health sector, except for increasing the number of aerobics and weight loss classes.

These were laughable measures, Dr Fenech Adami said. This was a symptom of the general decadence of this government.

Removing bureaucracy did not mean the removal of procedures, as had happened within the armed forces which he, Dr Fenech Adami, was now shadowing. Under former Minister Manuel Mallia, AFM personnel had been given promotions without a call for applications and others had been transferred for no reason.

He appealed to the new Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela to rectify the irreparable damage which had been caused in the last two years.

There were police and army officers who were demoralised and were still waiting for justice.

Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon would up the discussion, highlighting measures taken which thwarted bureaucracy.