€17 million were spent on 2,000 scholarships in the past five years, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this evening.

Speaking during a meeting with young people in Paceville he said:

"We put our money where our mouth is. We invested in important things such as education and a large part of EU budget we recently managed to get will go for scholarships and education."

He said a Nationalist government would dedicate €100 million of EU and local funds to industry to be used to continue developing and making factories more competitive.

There would also be funds for research initiatives especially for the Life Sciences Centre, which is being built next to the hospital, he said.

The centre would offer a "critical mass" of research and development projects which was also tied to the Ph.D students who studied at university, he said.

Dr Gonzi warned that on March 9, there was "the risk that we will have a government that will make a mistake.

"We are lucky. We know the Labour Party will make a mistake and spend €600 million on a power station, which we don't need, and that doesn't qualify for EU funds," Dr Gonzi said.

Young people at the meeting expressed disgust at the Malta Council for Arts, Sciences and Technology who booed at the Prime Minister during a leaders' debate on Wednesday.

Law student Rebecca Spiteri expressed disgust and disappointment at the students' behaviour.

"It is the Labour Party which is creating a divide and they are saying shame on you".

She said it was ironic that Mcast students made that statement and pointed out that to condemn someone who created wealth was stupid.

Freelance designer Matthew Spiteri, who studied at Mcast, said:

"They said 'shame on you' but I tell you thank you and shame on you to the students." 

After the meeting, Dr Gonzi did a short walkabout in Paceville.

 

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