Opposition leader Adrian Delia said that this government is one of public relations (PR) and not a labour party, during his Parliamentary speech reacting to the budget.

This is Delia's second budget reaction speech. Delia said that budget presented by government has no vision or long-term planning.

Delia insisted that the budget did not solve any of the problems government itself created. Furthermore, the economic model being present puts downward pressure on wages whilst increasing pressure on day-to-day items.

A number of projects that were promised were not carried out, Delia said, giving the example of new schools. "Government then repeats the same projects as new promises."

He highlighted that there are a lot of people who said that the budget did not make a significant difference in their lives. Delia also gave several examples of people who are suffering and said that the government will not listen to them

What are people saying about this Budget

There a number of good measure Delia said, but not enough to solve the problems created by government itself.

This budget includes economic incentives but no political vision and does not help those who really need it, Delia noted. Opportunities that are supposed to have been created were not a part of the budget, he continued. Furthermore no solutions to social problems that are a reality in Malta were presented.

"Government is sweeping problems under the carpet rather than solving them," Delia emphasised.

Delia said that the budget included several reference to the surplus,  but nothing about the social deficit in the worker's pay. The great number of cars was also mentioned but nothing about the air pollution, he added.

"What the government did not say we will say it tonight. Because we care, because we want a serious plan for our country and for our people," Delia said.

Economy is being planned without taking any notice of the people's problems, Delia noted. "The biggest defect in the budget is that it is looking at statistics."

"The economic policy that dare not speak its name," Delia said about the government's strategy regarding the number of foreign workers government is attracting to Malta. "There is no plan for this amount of people entering Malta. No plan so that economic operators can plan to this influx of people or those effected by this strategy."

Delia said that government would rather increase the population than increase wages and productivity, which he said was how previous governments improved the economy. 

"The Immigrants government is bringing into Malta are mostly from outside of Europe," Delia noted. He said that government said that over the past four years Malta's population increased by 47,000".

"We are in favour of intelligent immigration," said Delia. The amount and type of people that the government is bringing in is a problem, he said. "Two models of immigration exist: the cheap one and that which is beneficial to Malta. The latter include employees from gaming, financial, and aviation industries," he noted.

There should be space for foreign employees, but with a plan and in amounts that Malta can handle, he said, adding that it should be done in a way that will also increase local wages.

Malta has the highest density population, which is bound to increase with the influx of immigrants. This causes problems in every aspect including infrastructure, healthcare and traffic, Delia said.

This influx should not cause pressure on wages for local workers, Delia mentioned several times. The increase in the price of bread, milk is all a result of this economic model which includes increasing the population. 

Delia mentioned that workers were living in stables and farms and since these foreign workers were being exploited, local people will also eventually be exploited. 

The economic model proposed by Delia is to put more money in people's pockets by investing in enterprises, making it more efficient and effective. 

"This is the advantage of having a vision and long-term plan. This government is doing things haphazardly," he said.

Mentioning public transport, day-to-day essentials, and rising property prices Delia said that government did not plan for these issues. Quality of life and the environment are suffering because of the lack of government planning, he noted.

"Will Malta remain attractive to those who wish to visit?" Delia questioned when discussing the environment. 

Government only mentioned that agriculture does not contribute to the economic contribution and jobs, said Delia. "Statistics published by this government show that farmers' income decreased 14%." 

Quoting Euronews Delia said Malta was called the "dirty man of Europe" with reference to Malta only recycling 7% of its waste. The second worst country is Romania which recycles double what Malta recycles at 13%.

Due to the increase in the number of cars the air quality is getting worse with an increase of 12% in carbon dioxide  in the air over the last three years.

Delia reiterated that the PN gives a guarantee that every Maltese person will have a roof over their head. He also said that the white paper released about the rent prices offered no solutions. Being a landowner is one of the biggest security with Malta in the past having the largest rates of home owners, Delia noted. Now, however, Malta has one of the highest rates of youths who cannot afford to pay the high rates present.

Schemes helping vulnerable person were stopped including persons with disabilities and pensioners that rent or fix their houses so as to continue living in the community, he said.

Delia said that no bicycle lanes were included in new roads made with EU funds and also in roads that were widened. 100,000 cars are going to be increased in the Maltese roads to increase traffic, air pollution and the government to benefit from the increase in petrol and diesel.

In such times of surplus, all youths should be provided with free public transport until they reach the age of 25. This is would decrease the number of cars in the road.

Discussing the healthcare section of the budget, Delia said that there are 63,000 people on the waiting list for public healthcare which results in an average of eight months waiting time.

Delia also mentioned Vitals that then became the company Steward Healthcare. He said Vitals ran off with €50 million and left Malta with "a state of the art hole."

"The new mental health hospital near Mater Dei is a big necessity. We have been hearing about this promise for six years, since 2013," Delia explained. He said that instead of building this hospital government removed the Mental Health Crisis Invention Team.

Malta's has the second worst rate of youths leaving school early, which condemns them to low wages, Delia said. The budget provides no solution for this.

"Budget is an exercise in public relations but barely mentions these problems," he noted.

Delia said it is important that police stations are open especially in sensitive zones. The only proposal in the budget was that camera will be installed in Paceville and perhaps in Marsa.

Increase in the cost of food, according to the government is 4.4 per cent but the cost of living is only €2.33, Delia explained. This means that just with food the cost of living given is already exceeded. When waking up in the morning and buying bread and milk people already spend more than the given increase of cost of living, Delia said.

The amount pensioners spend on food is higher than average so even for them the cost of living given is not enough, he continued.

There should be carers for the elderly who can communicate with them in a language they understand, Delia said.

Delia noted that according to government statistics, financial poverty has increased by more than 10,000 people in the past five years. Five years ago it was nearly 62,000 people and now it has increased to 72,000 people.

The elderly should be helped more and what is being done is not enough, he noted.

Budget that has no new ideas of how vulnerable groups can be given dignity, Delia said, further adding that government has no social conscience.

Mentioning the opening of companies in Panama, Delia said this damages Malta's reputation but this is not shown in the GDP. There are countries whose economy is increasing, even more than Malta's, whilst strengthening their reputation, he continued.

"Authorities are not independent but controlled by Castille and we know this for a fact because they did nothing when it was obvious that they needed to act," Delia said.

Several projects in Gozo that were repeatedly promised were not done, Delia said. What government did was sell the hospital in Gozo and when a helicopter is needed to bring the patient to hospital the company is paid 40 times more than what the government would have invested.

Delia added that when a helicopter was needed, there wasn't anything available and the patient died.

He also said that the document issued by the opposition before the budget made an analysis of the country's economy. The document is entitled "Economy from the people for the people," Delia said.

This document, Delia notes, includes 50 proposals including first time buyers scheme to be extended, investing in research and innovation, helping local companies grow, decreasing income tax rates and investing in education.

He concluded by saying that government is causing problems that he should have known he was going to cause and should have planned for them. Delia said that the government is one of public relations and is takes shortcuts.

"Let us give a voice to those who have lost it," Delia said.

Photos by Alenka Falzon