Prime Minister Robert Abela On Sunday announced that the government is working on a reform related to agricultural rents.

During a political event on the occasion of Women's Day, the Prime Minister revealed a new reform that the government is working on

"There are challenges related to agricultural rents (Qbiela). A similar court decision to those which were given regarding the pre-1995 rents, was given on fields. We could have decided to leave this problem for the future, but then many farmers would end up out of their fields. We don't want the agricultural sector to fall behind. Actually, I believe that this sector is a pillar of our economy. One of our concerns last March was that potentially strategic ports would close, ports where we import food from. It showed just how important this sector was going to be to ensure that we would have a sufficient provision of food. I believe we must protect this sector. We must protect it based on the same principles we used during the pre-1995 rent reform proposals, balance and proportionality. There are two sides of the coin, the owner and the farmer."

"In this reform, which is in its final stages, we are keeping these principles before our eyes. He described this reform as a major one.

The Prime Minister also spoke about the pandemic and praised frontliners.

"We knew that this pandemic was going to be a marathon. It came without warning."

"We managed to pass through 12 months where, yes we could have done some things better, but we worked to protect the health of the people and their livelihoods."

"This week when we announced a set of measures I was emotional, as I felt for every restaurant owner due to the restrictive measure we had to introduce."

He was referring to the measure which only allows restaurants and snack bars to open for take-aways or deliveries.

He also said that when this restrictive measure on restaurants was introduced, they balanced it by including them to the full wage supplement list. "We also said this wasn't enough and added €1000 to every establishment impacted by that restriction to make good for the stock that they already bought."

On the vaccine, he said that the government is continuing to work hard on vaccinating people, but urged people to follow the precautions which are currently in place.

During the event, Lydia Abela, the Prime Minister's wife, described women's day as a special day, in which "we celebrate the achievements of women, who passed through challenges but achieved what they wanted to achieve."

She said that the pandemic impacted women more than men, due to the challenges it brought with it, such as the closure of schools at the beginning.

"Many women were frontliners during the pandemic, and we saw how the country can benefit." She spoke of looking ahead for there to be a radical change even in the political sector. She looks forward to having a Parliament that is truly representative of all of society, she said referring to the reforms expected in Parliament regarding equal representation.

"Agatha Barbara when writing her biography spoke about the challenges she faced... She said that the fact that she was a woman meant she had to make sacrifices men didn't. I want Malta to have a Parliament that represents all people equally; and one where female MPs won't have to make sacrifices men don't need to."

EU Commissioner Helena Dalli delivered a short video message, in which she also spoke about female representation in Parliament. "It is important for women to find their positions in leadership. I praise the government for advancing the proposal for gender balance in Parliament and on government boards."

A number of other speakers also addressed the event.