The series of direct orders for cleaning services at St Vincent de Paul home for the elderly go against the principles of good governance, Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia said on Wednesday.

One company was supposed to have been given a short-term direct order but instead got one for three years worth €9 million, he said during a political activity in Lija.

Such a practice was carried out by a government that did not have a long-term plan and is only interested in filling the pockets of its friends, he added.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is threatening pensioners with the claim that unless more foreign workers come to Malta, they will not be getting their pension. This is a declaration of a government without a social conscience.

Delia said the PN believed that elderly people still had so much to contribute towards society, and will work to guarantee that they lead a decent life.

The policy aimed to increase the economy by increasing the population is causing price hikes in the renting of property. This was happening at a time when sectors of society were struggling to make ends meet, and yet the government is persisting with the idea of giving out public land for speculation.

Delia was referring to the Corinthia deal for land in Pembroke to be transferred to the private sector at a pittance. The government is hiding the contract  it signed in 2015 with the hotel group, Delia said.