Labour Party leader Joseph Muscat rolled out a list of 10 budget proposals at the party’s national manifestation, ‘Familja Wahda’, held at the heart of Zabbar yesterday.

To fund the proposals – most of which have been publicly mentioned in the past – the government is to cut waste of public funds and corruption.

Masses of people from all walks of society flocked to the southern town on the sunny October afternoon. Many were clad in red T-shirts while other carried red and white flags, PL scarves, horns or placards. A few EU and Maltese flags also made it to Zabbar.

Dr Muscat went on a walk of solidarity “with those who were going through difficult times” prior to the addresses. He later appeared on stage waving to the throngs present and shaking hands with members of the party’s administration.

Direct assistance to the tourism industry – one of the worst hit local industries as a result of the global recession – topped Dr Muscat’s list. He called for a VAT cut on hospitality services which currently stands at 18 per cent. Hoteliers had promised price drops if they were granted tax cuts, Dr Muscat noted. He also suggested the removal of the 50 cent daily tax on each visitor.

People’s minds must be put at rest for the economic wheel to gain momentum, he believed. The government was therefore urged to declare the maximum water and electricity tariffs for families and businesses to be able to plan ahead.

While the mass showed banners reading ‘Action against the cost of living’, ‘New movement; Better country’, ‘Employment’, ‘Uncertainty threatens jobs’, he called for a maximum ceiling for all government tariffs (including vehicle licences and fees).

The price monitoring agency, which the government had promised to re-establish for quite a while, is to be set up immediately, Dr Muscat said, as the crowd applauded. He described this as a “consumer defence unit” adding that medicine price monitoring should be its first remit.

Food and vegetable prices should also be checked and the government is to take action on the Ta’ Qali vegetable market. Prices are not reflecting farmers’ earnings due to abuses in the system, he said.

Meanwhile, the eco-contribution scheme must be revised for it to act as a deterrent for environmental damage. In Dr Muscat’s view, this is currently a burden on honest business people.

He also called for discussions with banks for the introduction of services that better reflect people’s needs and the economy’s interests. Moreover, Dr Muscat told the supportive crowd that a moratorium on home loans in cases of job redundancies should be introduced as a right.

The 12 per cent withholding tax on the sale of inherited property should also be revised for the benefit of first time buyers, he said.

Calling for a responsible budget, he said that society and the environment needed to be strengthened while treating cost of living, and corruption. These were threatening employment.

Last year’s utility tariff mistake and subsidy cuts have badly marred the economy and he warned against their repetition. To the contrary, the government was to incentivise people if it wanted positive economic results.

The high cost of living was a major problem. Water and electricity bills, shopping lists, and medicine prices were a concern to mothers, families, pensioners, business people and students alike.

This, Dr Muscat said, was all caused by Gonzi’s irresponsible government whose advisors have driven him into the wall.

As a result, the Pharmacy of Your Choice Scheme has failed – so much so that pharmacists have presented their own proposals to revive it. Meanwhile, medicine importers are not getting paid.

People never know when to expect water and electricity bills. When they do, they cannot meet the expenses even though they had taken all necessary action to avoid waste.

When jobs are lost, people are not managing to find other work places of dignity.

Still, four out of ten students are not even completing secondary education. Hospital waiting lists, which add up to 23,000 people, are another reality which Gonzi’s government is failing to face.

“We need certainty to attract investment and create new jobs,” he said.

We are ready to pay for our children’s schools, for roads to be built, but we are not ready to have tax money wasted in corruption, he added.

“The government is undecided on a lot of things including the budget date, its content, Malta’s EU commissioner, government re-shuffle and utility tariffs. It is not even replying to our most simple parliamentary questions and no motion we presented in well over a year was discussed.”

He explained that capital investment dropped while the deficit went up to E345 million. Some of this money was going down the drain in fines imposed by the European Court of Justice when Malta lost cases involving pollution. Still, the new power station will emit 31 tonnes of dust a day, he pointed out.

Another E40 million were lost in the shipyards’ Fairmount contract.

Yet, Dr Gonzi sees no wrong in the Finance Minister’s holiday with two top businessmen, he said.

PL deputy leaders Toni Abela and Anglu Farrugia also spoke.

Dr Muscat ended the mass meeting with the phrase ‘Is- Sewwa Jirbah Zgur’ (truth shall prevail) – used by Nationalist Party leaders in the past. The crowd then quietened to the tune of the national anthem.