Labour leader Joseph Muscat insisted this morning that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi was ultimately responsible for the ‘web of espionage’ weaved by the Nationalist Party, and no attempts to find a sacrificial lamb would hide this fact.

Speaking at a political conference at Paola PL club, Dr Muscat first referred to the proposals for City Gate and the Opera House site, saying the project should have been completed a long time ago. However, the PL felt there should be proper public consultation on the plans, and the process should embrace all of civil society within determined time frames.

One had to wonder, however, why no mention was made about the project in the budget. Where would the money needed for it, between €60m and €80m come from, at least the amount for the first year?

The Opposition, he said, also agreed on the need for a reform of public transport. The PL’s top priority was the consumer. Here again, however, the Public Transport Association had complained that it was not consulted before the plans were unveiled on Friday. Dr Muscat said he hoped this situation would not escalate again because it would be the workers who suffered, not whoever went to work in a Jaguar.

The bus owners should have an open mind on the reforms and the government should sit around a table with them to discuss the future. The PL was only on the side of commuters and wanted to see an efficient and affordable service. Indeed, the document published by the government on Friday made no mention of what the fare in the future would be. The same thing had happened when the gas division was privatised. Clearly, the people should be shown the full picture.

Dr Muscat noted that the international oil price had now dropped to $42 per barrel. The last time oil prices were at this level, Malta did not even have a surcharge. Yet now the government would retroactively raise bills from a surcharge of 95% to 185%. Given the current oil prices, the surcharge should disappear completely. The PL early next year would publish what the proper costings should be.

Clearly, however, the new bills were not being introduced because of high oil prices, but to cover inefficiencies and the government’s waste. How else could one explain that whereas all over Europe, fuel prices were falling, in Malta a new tax on fuel was being imposed? The people were demanding a drop in petrol and diesel prices.

The leader of the opposition said the Prime Minister had practically disappeared, save for his announcement on City Gate. His attitude, he said, was fuelling uncertainty to the detriment of the economy.

“We have a situation where the prime minister is not in command, and does not know what is happening” Dr Muscat said.

He said that when he had talks with the trade unions on the utility tariffs, Dr Gonzi said one thing, but when the proposal was made in writing, different figures were given on how many families would benefit from lower tariffs. The mistake had been made because the costings, rather than being based on households, were based on accounts, which included summer houses and garages. This issue, Dr Muscat, would not go away, even if no bills were issued before Christmas.

Dr Muscat renewed his accusations of a network of spying by the Nationalist Party.

The PN, he said, was not believed when it said that no information was flowing from Castille to the PN. Decency demanded that the PN should at least admit its mistake. Instead, the PN was threatening to sue because its e-mail had been published. They could go ahead.

Furthermore, it was now known that 15 public officers paid from public funds had, during office hours, gone to PN headquarters to take instructions from the PN general secretary. That too was also very worrying.

And, following Dr Paul Borg Olivier’s admission that Dr Gonzi knew what was going on, the Prime Minister was ultimately responsible for all this, despite attempts to find a sacrificial lamb.

Dr Muscat said the people would not be distracted by red herrings, such as the proposed Ghadira Road. Plans were afoot, he said, for the Prime Minister to eventually show himself as a knight in shining armour by stopping this project. But it should never even have been considered. The country had higher road priorities, such as the congested Kappara Junction.