The MLP’s campaign trail on the party’s tour bus continued in three towns in the south-east yesterday evening – Marsascala, Zejtun and Fgura – where Labour leader Alfred Sant told supporters that the party has a development plan for the area going all the way down to Birzebbuga.
In Marsascala, Dr Sant pointed out the Corinthia Jerma Palace Hotel, saying it would have not closed down had there been a Labour government.
“We want to regenerate the tourism industry in this area. We have a development plan for the whole zone that goes all the way down to Birzebbuga,” he said.
He also said the natural environment in the area was “under attack” and that the Labour Party in government would have gone about the Sant’ Antnin Waste Treatment Plant in Marsascala in a different way. “A new Labour government will publish the audit report on the plant,” he pledged.
Referring to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi as “Il- prim ministru caretaker” (caretaker prime minister), Dr Sant spoke about his announcement that he would take personal responsibility of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) should the PN be re-elected to government.
Dr Sant said: “Apart from showing he doesn’t trust (Environment Minister George) Pullicino,I ask, isn’t the prime minister also meant to have been responsible for Mepa? In deciding to take personal responsibility, he is not only condemning Minister Pullicino, but also himself”.
Speaking about Malta’s membership of the EU, he said: “EU laws that are valid and applicable to us will be incorporated into our legislation”.
As he was greeted by a cheering crowd and fireworks in one of the party’s biggest strongholds, Zejtun, Dr Sant spoke extensively about the community.
“We want to work with the idea of a caring community, because we care. We plan to work towards a system by means of which elderly people would be ‘adopted’ so to speak and we want to be able to have not only day centres for the elderly, but also night centres,” said the Labour leader.
He added that under a new MLP government, people living in residences for the elderly would not be required to fork out 80 per cent of their pension, as is currently the case, but this would be reduced to 65 per cent of their pension.
In all three towns visited yesterday, Dr Sant jokingly asked the crowd whether they own a swimming pool, saying that according to Dr Gonzi, the MLP proposal to cut the surcharge on utility bills by half would only be applicable to those who own a swimming pool and who therefore consume a lot of energy.
He mocked Dr Gonzi, repeating in a firm and loud voice, that the surcharge on utility bills will be cut by half during the first week of the Labour Party having been elected to government.