The inquiry report into the Zammit family, which was drawn up by Mr Justice Michael Mallia shows that there is a direct link between the Gaffarena family, which in turn, must mean that there are also links to Castille, said Opposition leader Simon Busuttil yesterday.

Speaking today on the news programme Focus, on radio 101, Dr Busuttil said that it is also becoming clearer that the Zammit family has the protection of the Prime Minister. "The Prime Minister, who has told us he runs like a hare, has been slower than a tortoise on this matter, His silence on the matter is deafening," said Dr Busuttil.

He said that the Zammit family is one where three officers, a father and two sons, have been linked to people of dubious character. "What does former Acting Police Commissioner know about the government for him to be given this protection," asked Dr Busuttil.

Dr Busuttil said that up to a few months ago, Ray Zammit was still acting Police Commissioner. "The report clearly condemns the links.  Zammit is still the acting director of Prisons and is now heading a new government agency regulating wardens. This is wrong," he said.

Dr Busuttil said that the only thing that has been done is that Justice Minister Owen Bonnici gave Ray Zammit a warning. "He was given a warning in the Mallia shooting case, and now you give him another one and they still do not learn. No wonder faith in the Police Corps has gone," he said.

Dr Busuttil said people had to ask the question. Who are the police there to protect? The big fish, or the general public?

"Such goings on are very dangerous to a democratic society. We need a sea change in the way politics are done. People need to have faith in the political system, but they are losing it. We need a clean sweep to clear out all the dirt that has infiltrated into our political system," he said.

Power station promise

Dr Busuttil said that the new power station, which was the Labour Party's main electoral promise, had still not materialised.  "Deadlines have come and gone. It is now four months overdue and we still have not seen anything. The Prime Minister had pledged that if it was not built within two years, he would resign."

He continued: "Not only has he not resigned, but he has given a €88 million bank guarantee out of the general public's money and all this when the main company in the consortium that was supposed to build it - Gasol, has pulled out because it is bankrupt."

Dr Busuttil explained that when a contract is awarded and any party pulls out, the contract is supposed to be nullified. He said that these were the reasons why the Nationalist Party was requesting the Auditor General to investigate the whole procedure from top to bottom. He also spoke about the number of power cuts that have been hitting Malta this summer. "Enemalta has said that the problem is with distribution, not supply. So why are we building a €400 million power station when we do not need it? Why is the money not invested in distribution instead?"

Pensions

Dr Busuttil also said that the government needed a sustainable plan for the future viability of pensions. He said that while there were some good proposals, the government was only looking at the here and now, when it needed to look towards the future. "Responsible governments plan ahead, but we also need to make sure that the pension given out at present is enough for people to live a dignified life. Many older people are saying that they simply cannot make ends meet. That is not fair after a person has worked all their life and contributed to the system," said Dr Busuttil.

He said that it was positive that the government was going to increase the minimum pension amount, but said that it was highly unfair that the increase was only going to be given to people who are aged 76 or over.  He said the government found no problem in making Marco Gaffarena a millionaire overnight, or to give Michael Falzon €120,000 per year in government salary and his early retirement package, or €4m to bailout Cafe Premier, or to fund Sai Mizzi €13,000 per month. "Yet you cannot give all pensioners an increase."

Politics

Dr Busuttil said he wanted clean politics. "I want a government that leads by example. This is the most corrupt government since the days of Dom Mintoff and Lorry Sant. Is that a good society to live in? People sometimes say that the PN should become as corrupt as the PL because that is the only way to beat them. I do not agree."

 

PL reacts

In a reaction, the Labour Party said that Dr Busuttil has been mentioning Gaffarena several times for the past weeks; however he has failed to mention the meetings he had with the same family on the eve of the election.

It said that Dr Busuttil should explain what he meant by the Gaffarena knowing what they had to do to open up the petrol station.

The PL said that Dr Busuttil’s attempts to sully the government’s reputation will backfire.

 

Government reacts 

In a statement, the government said that Dr Busuttil chose to be negative about the inquiry ordered by the Prime Minister. Instead of insinuating without basis, Dr Busuttil should come clear about how investigations were held under a Nationalist government.

He should also state his position about Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici and Beppe Fenech Adami, who were responsible for the police force when such cases occurred.

The government noted that the inquiry is at the Attorney General and Police Commissioner, and the necessary steps will be taken.