A new Labour government would establish a Children's Department to support an Ombudsman for Children who would replace the Commissioner, Labour leader Alfred Sant said yesterday.
Addressing a Taħt it-Tinda activity with the crowd spilling out from under the marquee and filling the square in front of the Domus Romana, popularly known as the Roman Villa, in Rabat, Dr Sant said Labour wanted children to have suitable protection.
A Commissioner without power or resources was not enough. Labour would make the Commissioner an Ombudsman for Children who would be supported by the Children's Department. This would ensure that the decisions of the Ombudsman were put into practice.
The Labour leader said his party cared for the future of all Maltese and Gozitans. It cared for families working for the development and education of children. Labour wanted a caring community.
It wanted to strengthen the families' standard of living. It wanted to support those who were doing well to continue doing so and to give that extra push to those who had fallen behind, giving them the chance to improve their lifestyle.
Labour, Dr Sant said, also cared about young people. There would be ongoing research on the needs and aspirations of young people.
When young people sought advice on education choices, they would find trained personnel available to help them out.
Dr Sant claimed Dr Gonzi and his Cabinet had already discussed proposals for payments to start being charged for the provision of health services. The Nationalists would continue working in this direction if they were re-elected, he warned.
The PN and the government have both denied that this is the case.
Dr Sant also referred to Dr Gonzi's promise to take over responsibility for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa). This meant that Environment Minister George Pullicino had been rendered useless, he said.
The Prime Minister had known of the abuses that had been going on at Mepa in the past years but took no action, even though he had direct responsibility, Dr Sant claimed.