The government was looking at a number of projects intended to improve the transport situation including through the use of underground tunnels and sea connections, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this evening.

Giving his reaction in Parliament to the Opposition leader's reply to the Budget yesterday, Dr Muscat said that although public transport had improved, much more needed to be done.

The previous government had given Arriva a €10 million subsidy, leading it to reduce the service so as to make do.

When the Opposition leader said he did not want to increase the operator's subsidy, he was actually saying he wanted an increase in fares. "We do not want this," the Prime Minister said.

The people expected the government to solve the traffic problem and it planned to tackle the problem by starting with ensuring that  works were carried out on schedule and through better project management.

He said that the Budget measures to encourage the use of motorbikes would see a great increase in the use of motorbikes, helping improve the traffic situation

The initiative, he said, was to be accompanied by an educational campaign.

FIRST INVESTMENT ABROAD BY ENEMALTA IN COMING DAYS

Earlier, Dr Muscat said Enemalta would be launching its first investment abroad in the coming days.

He said his government was transforming Enemalta  from a loss making company to a company that also invested internationally.

On the water and electricity tariffs, he noted that while the people were currently charged 12c5 per kilowatt of electricity, they were charged 17c per kilowatt (+37 per cent) under the previous administration when the price of oil was $44 a barrel.

Referring to the Opposition leader's statement that energy tariffs should be further reduced by 30 per cent, he asked why was this not done by the previous administration, which had proposed night tariffs.

Referring to the state guarantee given for the building of the power station, the Prime Minister said two predecessors had given a guarantee to two private companies which did not have anything to do with the government.

They did well and this government was doing the same.

This government had also reduced the price of fuel even when it was increased in Europe and it was to continue doing so.

Dr Muscat said that between April 2013 and October this year the average price of petrol in Malta was 11c cheaper than the average price in the EU. That of diesel was equal to the European average.

PREVIOUS GOVERNMENT GAVE €10 MILLION TO COMPANY IT WAS WARNED ABOUT

Earlier, the Prime Minister said the Nationalist government had opted to assist the company TRC to the tune of €10 million in direct and indirect assistance in spite of a due diligence exercise which concluded that the promoter’s wealth stemmed from criminal activity

TRC, which used to employ 100 people, dismissed its employees and left.

A due diligence exercise carried out by the government in 2011 had noted that the research raised more questions than it answered and that the promoters had something to hide and a history of unsuccessful business ventures. It also noted that their wealth must have stemmed from criminal activity.

PRO-BUSINESS GOVERNMENT

Dr Muscat described his government as the most pro-business in history saying it was in favour of employment and workers. He noted that eight companies a day were launching their business in Malta.

He went through the various assistance schemes launched tand said his government would continue to do its utmost to promote Maltese products and services.

He said he would be in Algeria in the next few days to open the market to Maltese entrepreneurs.

He also said the government was collecting more in spite of a reduction in taxes. The government, he said, was reducing the deficit while also reducing taxes through growth friendly consolidation.

His government inherited a deficit of 3.6 per cent and has since managed to get out of the excessive deficit procedure, gradually reducing the deficit to 1.6 per cent by the end of the year. It was now aiming for the deficit to go down to 1.1 per cent.

The government increased expenditure in education by 38 per cent compared to 2012. It had also increased expenditure on health.

“But in spite of spending more and reducing taxes, we collected more,” the Prime Minister said adding that it had collected €341 million more than its predecessors.

UNEMPLOYMENT

Dr Muscat said unemployment was the lowest it had ever been with eight out of every 10 jobs being created by the public sector. Moreover 72 per cent of jobs in the public sector were in health and education.

The number of unemployed youths dropped by half. The time had now come to stop speaking about jobs and start speaking about careers for the next leap forward.

The government, Dr Muscat said was tackling precarious employment conditions. It had also reduced income tax and it was not taxing the minimum wage.

Dr Muscat spoke on schemes launched to help young couples buy their first home and said assistance was now also being given to people buying their second home.

He criticised an exercise in The Sunday Times of Malta about what people would be left with after the Budget and said that all calculations made by the newspaper were wrong. He hoped a right of reply would appear in next Sunday’s paper.

The government had increased pensions for the first time in 20 years and 15,400 pensioners would be receiving an average €6 increase a week.

Other measures were aimed to encourage the disabled enter the job market and encourage employers employ the disabled.

The government now had to see how to help the disabled who could not enter the job market live a more dignified life. It was also investing €50 million in housing sector. This was besides the reforms to help migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.

Dr Muscat said he had been tempted to reply to the Opposition leader's bitter speech in a like with like manner. But he refused to stoop down to such levels. "The Maltese and Gozitans have rejected such envy and bitterness," Dr Muscat said.

On Gozo, he said that economic growth in Gozo was higher than in Malta for the first time.

He spoke on the investment being undertaking in the health sector and said that the first baby was born through an IVF cycle carried out completely at Mater Dei.

On Air Malta, the Prime Minister said that the measure replacing the meal with a bun had seen the company saving €4 million.