Prime Minister Joseph Muscat today pledged that the government will do its utmost to ensure that the 300 De La Rue employees which are to be made redundant over the next three years find new jobs with good working conditions.

Speaking during a political activity in Mqabba, Dr Muscat said the De La Rue management made contact with the government and announced that the bank note printing facility in Malta did not make financial sense in today’s business environment.

“But, because we have a strong economy and are still competitive, we convinced them that they can still do business here, albeit in a different sector,” said Dr Muscat.

He said that although there will be 300 layoffs, others will be employed and the government will make sure that those who lose their jobs find new employment as quickly as possible. “The one thing that workers fear is the unknown. And that is why we are being open and honest with them and we appeal to De La Rue’s management to do the same. He also called on the Opposition leader to withdraw his reservations on the Constitutional Convention for it to meet immediately so discussions can start "tomorrow. 

He said that Dr Busuttil should withdraw his reservations to the convention coordinator, former nationalist MP Franco Debono. "This is an open invitation which I will not fatrnish with politics. When Dr Busuttil wants, we can start working to amend our Constitution".

Lowest unemployment rate since records began

Dr Muscat said that he was proud of the pace of economic growth, saying that during the CHOGM meeting and the Valletta Summit, heads of state continuously asked him how Malta had achieved such results.

“We explained that we are ever ready to do business and that our policy is to actively chase investment. The priority is to create jobs,” said Dr Muscat. He said that under past PN governments, election manifestos written by Simon Busuttil projected growth of 2 to 3 %. “But we have seen growth climb to 5 % and now we need to build on it and achieve this rate of growth again and again,” said the Prime Minister.

He said that while Malta is doing well, there are still 5,000 people who are registered unemployed and that more needs to be done to get them into the workforce. The Prime Minister also said that the government was committed to also improving the conditions of those who are employed.

He said that before the election the PN tried to scaremonger, claiming that under the PL, unemployment figures would soar up to 10,000.

 “You might remember that billboard from nearly three years ago. They said Labour won’t work. But Labour is working, we will continue working and we will never stop because we want continuous improvement,” said the PM.

Unionisation

Dr Muscat also spoke about the tourism sector. He said that it was high time that people employed in the tourism sector became unionised.

He said that in doing so, a number of problems that have persisted over the years will be tackled. He said that employers should not fear unionisation because it creates a sense of order and structure. He said that the government was also trying to do what it could to make a difference in people’s lives. “We have given pensioners the first increase they have experienced in 25 years with an €8 per week increase. Not only, we have also slashed income tax for 25,000 pensioners.

Dr Muscat also said it that the workplace needed to evolve and change and embrace people with disabilities and use their talents and areas of expertise. He also mentioned that the government will shortly be publishing laws and regulations to safeguard the rights of autistic people and their carers.

Schengen rackets

Dr Muscat defended the decision to put the Schengen agreement on hold, saying that it boosted security ahead of CHOGM and the Valletta Summit, as well as uncovering rackets in Malta which allowed for people to come into the country on fake documents. “When Schengen was in effect, Malta had no way of legally checking people as they entered the country from another Schengen country. In suspending the rules, we were able to start checking documents at border control and arrests led to the authorities being able to investigate and dismantle the rackets,” said the Prime Minister.

He said that the two summits held in Malta in November put the country on the map. He said that everything was well organised and it made him proud to see all of Malta do their bit to ensure that the country as a whole benefitted from the experience.

“The eyes of the world were on us in November. Malta is relevant and it has shown that it is relevant and one of the best performers in the world,” he said.

He also sent a few barbs to Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil, saying that he should order all those back benchers who pockets a €500 per week salary increase to give the money back. “We have worked out that they owe €1 million to the Maltese people. The government rescinded that pay rise, but it could not be put into retroactive effect,” said Dr Muscat.

He said that if Dr Busuttil cannot do that, the least he could do was to tell his MPs who are on the state payroll to at least turn up for work.

Foreign Minister George Vella and MP Etienne Grech also address the meeting.