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Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said today that 2009 had been a challenging year for the government, but one which had yielded results despite the turbulent international economic scenario.
Speaking at a press conference to mark the end of the second year of this legislature, Dr Gonzi reviewed the measures taken by the government in various spheres. He said he still believed that Malta would be out of the recession by June and that Malta was on the right track.
The Prime Minister would not risk saying, however, that Malta would have a surplus budget by the end of this legislature.
He said that while other countries had raised taxes and taken tough austerity measures, his government had placed jobs at the top of its priorities and given assistance where it was needed most to safeguard jobs and attract new investment.
He said that last year, the ETC found jobs for 4,027 workers.
7,254 persons started working for the first time, raising, to 18,494, the number of new workers so far in this legislature.
During 2009, 30,649 engagement forms for full-time employment were processed, along with over 21,000 part-time.
Dr Gonzi said the ETC last year provided courses for 6,745 people, up by almost 2,000 on the previous year.
The government handed out €80 million under various investment schemes which benefited 2,194 companies, factories or individuals.
He said that 2,500 jobs which were in the balance had been saved by direct government action with the companies involved.
The Prime Minister said that he received the Ornis Committee recommendation for a limited spring hunting season this morning.
The government, he said, would be discussing this internally and hold informal meetings with the EU Commission before taking a decision in line with the recommendation made and the judgement given by the European Court of Justice, which everyone had agreed should be respected.
On the primary health care reform, he said that the government would take into account the negative feedback and arrange what needed to be arranged. On the pharmacy of your choice scheme, he said there were difficulties in its administration but the government was determined to continue roling out the service which was a necessary link in the improvement of community care.
He also spoke on the twinning initiative of backbenchers to ministers,saying this was based on a system in place in other countries where they had parliamentary private secretaries.
Dr Gonzi said he intended to introduce this system for backbenchers to give more of a contribution, maximising on the good human resources available.
In other areas, Dr Gonzi pointed out that the government had raised the budget of the Malta Tourism Authority by €31 million and more airlines were encouraged to start operating to Malta. Various schemes were launched to help hoteliers and other operators in the tourism sector.
Assistance was also given to the self-employed and SMEs, including tax credits announced in the last Budget which were benefiting 28,000.
Other tax incentives were given to, among others, mothers who returned to work, mothers who sent their children to childcare centres and host families of language students.
Dr Gonzi pointed out how arterial roads were being rebuilt in Marsascala, Zurrieq and Victoria while 220 roads within localities had been built with central government funding. The government was also embellishing various areas and had launched the City Gate project.
204 apartments were allocated for social housing, another 255 were being completed and 145 were under construction.
In education, Dr Gonzi pointed to the building of new schools, initiatives for e-learning and the primary education reform. He said that 16,056 students are being given a stipend. At Mcast, the student population had increased by 16.5% over the previous year.
In the health sector, the number of operations at Mater Dei Hospital increased by 6,000 last year to reach 39,000. The government had opened the breast screening clinic, while the health service handed out medicines worth €22 million, up 6.4% over the year before. Doctors at health centres saw 610,103 patients at the centres or at home, an increase of 30 per cent on 2008.
Dr Gonzi also pointed to initiatives taken in Gozo and in the environment, including the promotion of clean energy sources.
He also listed reforms which were carried out or were under way, including rent reform, public transport, Mepa, primary schools, special schools, eco-Gozo, local law enforcement and primary healthcare.