Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday admitted that even though Mater Dei hospital waiting lists are long, the government is doing its utmost to make sure that the problem decreases within the next three years.
The prime minister, speaking during an interview held at the PN band club in Lija, said that improving the health sector will always be one of the government’s utmost priorities.
“Over the past few years, a number of excellent freshly graduated doctors from the University of Malta were moving to the UK because they felt the need to specialise in certain fields of surgery which were unavailable here in Malta.
“Consultations with the then Health Minister Louis Deguara led to a collective agreement to be reached with doctors to introduce new courses in Malta, and also to increase doctors’ and specialists’ wages.
“Even though we have a state-of-the-art hospital and state of the art medical services, the only way waiting lists will decrease is by increasing the amount of doctors and nurses on the island. It is a fact that there are currently a lot of people silently suffering, patiently waiting for a hip replacement, a cataract operation or waiting for cure from other services within the emergency departments. This is why we have allocated over and above e4 million in this year’s budget to find solutions to these problems,” said Dr Gonzi.
Dr Gonzi added that the government is constantly liaising with private hospitals and doctors to improve the medical services offered in the country, also saying that Parliamentary Secretary for Health Joe Cassar and Social Policy Minister John Dalli will soon publish a consultation document, open to the general public, which will offer advice and information on the country’s medical services, as well as when and how best to approach family doctors.
The Malta Independent on Sunday yesterday exclusively reported Dr Cassar saying, in an interview, that the document will highlight the role of general practitioners.
Dr Gonzi said that it is fantastic to know that Maltese families are still able to consult family doctors whenever they need medical attention or advice, for they prevent people from going to hospital for somewhat trivial matters, hence decreasing long queues and confusion.
“The building of a new oncology centre at Mater Dei Hospital has recently been given the go ahead, while a new radiology unit has just been set up at the Gozo hospital. Furthermore, new linear accelerator machines will soon be installed at Mater Dei, increasing the facilities and options available when it comes to the prevention and cure of cancer related diseases,” said Dr Gonzi.
It has been two years since the Mater Dei hospital opened its doors for patients. When asked if there are any plans in the pipeline to convert the old St Luke’s hospital into something different, the Prime Minister said that instead of rushing into things, the government will wait until the economic situation changes in order to make the right decision and investment.
Dr Gonzi added that it was not fair that the opposition was duping people into believing that the government is doing nothing to create investment in the country.
“Short-term priorities for the time being include the creation and safeguarding of employment. While the opposition has continuously lambasted the recent budget, it has yet to comment on the contract which was signed last week with SR Technics and Easy Jet which will allow for maintenance to take place on the latter company’s aeroplanes here in Malta.
“Last Friday it was also revealed that Stainless Steel Products Limited, a company which used to have workers on a four-day working week, have now enjoyed a fantastic turnaround and are seeking to employ more people to work within their factory. This proves that the current government is committed increasing employment in various sectors of the economy,” said the PM.
Climate change
With the Copenhagen climate change summit round the corner, Dr Gonzi explained that Malta, like the majority of other countries in the world, is treating the problem very seriously.
“The first step Malta needs is to reduce emissions before 2015, the year which will hopefully see the closure of the Marsa power station. Moreover, Malta is currently one of the leading countries in the world, which has a very dense car to population ratio problem, hence the need to reform public transport, which we are in the process of doing. The installation of an underwater cable connecting Malta to Sicily is also an excellent piece of investment, for it will enable us to access forms of electricity from mainland Europe.
“In this year’s budget, we have once again stressed the importance to make the most of alternative sources of energy, such as solar water heaters and installing photovoltaic panels on rooftops, while the government is still awaiting consultations before setting up offshore wind farms off Sikka l-Bajda.
“All this is being done to make sure that Malta meets its promise that by the year 2020, 20 per cent of the country’s emissions need to come from alternative sources of energy,” stated the PM.
With oil prices reaching an all time high, Dr Gonzi said that the government has no option but to increase water and electricity tariffs. “However, Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat never praises other measures which we have created in order to reduce water and electricity consumption. The Labour Party has even criticised the introduction of smart meters, when it is proved that Italy, for instance, has almost halved its intake of energy consumption after the introduction of such smart meters”.
Commenting on the power failure which left the whole country without electricity last Wednesday, Dr Gonzi said that investigations are still ongoing to see what exactly happened, and that the public has every right in demanding to know exactly what happened.
“An investor even claimed that a power failure of one hour could cost as much as e5 million in turnover money. Even though investigations after a similar power cut last June revealed that it was down to a technical fault, Enemalta has a right to conduct investigations to see if whatever happened was merely accidental or happened as a result of some form of sabotage or other.
Malta top of the list in e-government related services
The Prime Minister also said that Malta has received a recent award in e-government for facilitating the payment of bills and other services online.
“Malta is now the country with the most computer oriented government services among the 27 member states of the European Union. Furthermore, other countries willing to join the euro currency are consulting and liaising with Malta after our smooth transition from the lira into the euro was met with widespread approval.
“These are no mean feats and show efficiency, productivity and competitiveness within the government. The Nationalist Party has brought about significant changes over the past few years, including the introduction of the Euro, the transfer to a new and state of the art hospital as well as the introduction of new reforms concerning rent laws and local councils. I can rest assured everyone that next in store is the Mepa (Malta Environment and Planning Authority) reform which will indeed take place in the coming weeks”.
“The economy needs to keep growing, and construction is at the heart of growth. As the majority of previous members were part timers, applications for full time members on the authority’s DCC board were issued in September, with interviews expected to take place shortly. Soon enough the Mepa will be a highly efficient authority, with everything done with transparency and shown in the public light. This is to ensure that any forms of corruption are once and forever eradicated,” stated Dr Gonzi.
The Prime Minister also replied to a question on whether criticism which he levelled out towards the Mepa auditor general Joe Falzon two weeks ago was justified.
“I have no regrets, first of all because it was constructive criticism, and secondly because respect shown, at whatever level, needs to be reciprocated. Mr Falzon needed to show more respect to the decisions taken by the country’s highest institutions and the law courts. Malta is living in a democratic country, unlike socialist years gone by”.
Concluding, the Prime Minister gave no indication of who will be Malta next European Commissioner, saying that the announcement will be made in the coming few days.
