The Nationalist Party will continue to bring the Gaffarena scandal to the fore and will not let Prime Minister Joseph Muscat sweep the whole affair under the carpet, said Opposition leader Simon Busuttil today.

Speaking on Radio 101, Dr Busuttil said that if he were Prime Minister, he would have reneged on the deal and would have taken the €1.5 million back from Marco Gaffarena. He also said the Internal  Audit and Investigation Department had concluded its investigation into the Old Mint Street property deal , yet it has not yet been published.

“The Prime Minister told us in parliament that he would publish it as soon as it is concluded, yet he has not made it public. It has not been tabled in parliament either, what is he waiting for?”

Dr Busuttil said the government’s pledge of meritocracy has gone out of the window. “The people appointed by Dr Muscat and his government are not loyal to Malta’s best interests, but to Muscat,” said Dr Busuttil.

Dr Busuttil said that the whole state of affairs was orchestrated by the Prime Minister to make good for the promises he had made to so many people in the run up to the last general election.

Dr Busuttil said that if he was leading the government, he would also remove Michael Falzon from his post as parliamentary secretary, because he was not fit for purpose. “I would also investigate former police inspector Daniel Zammit who was supposed to be investigating a murder involving someone in Gaffarena’s family, and then got himself boarded out of the force and went into business with him,” said Dr Busuttil.

Dr Busuttl also spoke about Daniel Zammit’s father, Ray Zammit, who was removed as Acting Police Commissioner following the Gzira shooting debacle. “Zammit is still the Prisons Director, and he has also been given a post to oversee the activities of wardens. Not only, but the former PBS building is going to be turned into a massive office for him. As with the others, I would strip him of all titles and remove him from all posts he holds,” said Dr Busuttil.

Turning to the Libyan visa scam, Dr Busuttil said that this was a very serious case, especially given that the man at the centre of it all – Joe Sammut – was the PL’s Treasurer and had also contested in general elections. “There is a web of corruption. This man obtained hundreds, if not thousands of residency permits for Libyan nationals fraudulently. There must be others involved, it is very clear that there is a lot of dirt, including in the supposed water tight department that the government set up to oversee such things – Identity Malta,” said Dr Busuttil.

“You can smell a rat from seven miles away, let alone when it is under your nose. It is obvious that Sammut had people who were helping him. National security is at stake here. We do not even know the actual number of visas which were obtained fraudulently. If they were obtained irregularly, they should be withdrawn immediately,” said Dr Busuttil.

Dr Busuttil said that the PN would continue to throw its weight behind the opposition to the AUM project at Zonqor. “This project resulted in the biggest environmental protest Malta has ever seen. You simply cannot give a piece of ODZ land to a private developer. There was no transparency, no public call, nothing,” he said.

Referring to a story published today in The Malta Independent on Sunday, he also lambasted the government for renting out the property in Cottonera’s Dock One for a paltry €200,000 per year.

Turning to the power station, he said that the €360 million guarantee was simply there to save Muscat’s skin. “Without this massive burden placed on Maltese families, the power station could not be built, and that would mean that Muscat should resign. It was not given in the national interest, but out of Muscat’s own personal interest,” he said.

He also said that oil was at its cheapest in decades, yet the only reduction in fuel prices was a measly two cents per litre in the run up to the local council elections. He also asked where Transport Minister Joe Mizzi was at a time when traffic congestion was causing massive delays on Malta’s roads.

He also touched upon the health sector and said that the National Hospital Activity Report shows that things are deteriorating with the national health service.

In conclusion, Dr Busuttil said that this year’s Independence celebrations will be held in Valletta. He urged the party faithful to join him at Parliament Square in three weeks time for the Independence mass meeting. The theme of the meeting will be “The PN – serving Malta for the last 135 years.”