Opposition leader Joseph Muscat yesterday criticised Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s government for failing to recognise the real needs of the country’s citizens.

“Last week, the government announced a €200 million investment to turn the long neglected White Rocks site into a sports village. This is all well and good, and the Opposition is in agreement that the benefits of the project, once and if completed, will be long lasting,” Muscat said in an interview on ONE radio station.

“On the other hand, the Prime Minister is failing to realise that the taxes imposed on the citizens of this country by his government are leaving a record number of families severely struggling to make ends meet, and in order to do so some have been left with no option but to resort to finding a part-time job aside from their full-time one.

“Competition in the labour market is now tougher than ever before, with a substantial number of graduates now voicing grave concerns that they cannot find suitable and adequate employment,” said Dr Muscat in the interview, conducted by L-Orizzont acting editor Josef Caruana.

The government further contradicts itself, added Dr Muscat, when it keeps insisting on the importance of solidarity and enhancing moral values in Malta, while at the same time failing to realise that families in Malta, which are the heartbeat of society, are today crumbling because of financial pressures and restraints.

“Workers are now working more than ever before simply to pay off the exorbitant taxes and water and electricity tariffs, in doing so neglecting and failing to take adequate care of their families.

“A substantial number of managers have approached the Labour Party in the last few months, highlighting the fact that people are continuously asking for a rise, or are asking for their wages to be given at an earlier date because by the end of the month, employees do not have any money left to cover the most basic of needs,” said Dr Muscat.

With the government currently mid-way through its five year legislature, Dr Muscat warned the country’s citizens not to be fooled by the Prime Minister’s words in the build up to the general election in two and a half years’ time.

“Dr Gonzi and the Nationalist Party will surely, once again, stoop to the lows that are now hallmarks of their pre-election build up. Favours will be done more rapidly, Mepa permits will be given left, right and centre, as they are even today, while people should expect an income tax reduction and a lot of hogwash in the last budget before the election.

“In the meantime, hospital waiting lists remain high, medicine prices are the highest they have ever been, while the Maltese remain in the dark as to what consequences the Delimara power station extension plant will bring about to the country’s air and the citizens’ health,” said Dr Muscat.

The fact that the total cost for Mater Dei hospital was substantially more than originally envisaged only goes to show the government’s lack of accountability when it comes to the country’s finances, stated Dr Muscat.

“Prior to the opening of Mater Dei Hospital in 2007, Dr Gonzi categorically stated that the hospital will cost not more than Lm136 (€316) million. In response to a parliamentary question some time later, Dr Gonzi said that the total cost of the hospital was now Lm147 (€342) million.

“This example not only shows the government’s repeated inconsistencies when it comes to calculating finances, but perhaps more crucially in this case, the hospital was completed without three fundamental units which every state-of-the-art hospital should have: an oncology department, a dermatology department and a rehabilitation centre.

“Now the government has to go back to the drawing board and find the funds to set up these departments.

“The Labour Party will never stand in the way of improving our health sector. However, I am citing this example to show that somehow the government finds it easy to find €100 million to construct a new but unnecessary parliament building, but when it comes to the population’s health and safety, it is more sluggish in its expenditure,” said Dr Muscat.

Another example which exposes the government’s lack of financial credibility is the Delimara power station extension, which was at first expected to cost not more than €200 million, but according to the latest data is now expected to cost €290 million.

“The government then has to cheek to hit out at the Opposition and accuse it of creating uncertainty in the country, when all it is doing is fulfilling its role as watchdog over the government and dutifully informing the public on what and where their hard earned taxes are going towards.

“There are segments of the population which have long been forgotten, such as farmers, who haven’t been given the EU funds promised to them, and now also students. How can the Opposition have faith in an Education Minister after what happened with the Eupa funds?

“The Labour Party promises to bring about a set of fresh ideas, new proposals and inject a zest of life in politics to make sure that when in governance, it will steady the ship that is Malta away from the dangerous seas that the country currently finds itself in,” concluded Dr Muscat.