Making a thinly-veiled comparison with the situation last year when government was totally and completely absent for the whole summer, this year, Tonio Borg said, “everyone stayed at his post.” Last year a PN government was also in office, but it was led by a different team.

Dr Borg was speaking on a radio phone-in yesterday on Radio 101, “Il-Fatti kollha”.

He added that this year the Maltese have already started to see the results of the hard work which has been going on for the past months. This included public works such as the Paceville upgrading and the replenishment of sand at St George’s Bay.

More is planned, the minister added: preparations are in hand to start work on Dock Number One at the dockyard and doing away with an eyesore – the ruin of the former Royal Opera House at the entrance to Valletta.

However, the whole programme also showed that whatever message the government is trying to put across, the feeling in the country, even among diehard Nationalist Party supporters, is not far from the criticism one normally associates with speakers from the Labour side.

Practically all the callers the minister had were in a complaining mood and most sounded very angry at the amount of dirt and neglect . A woman from Sliema complained the local council is not doing anything and that empty cartons have been dumped on the pavement. A caller from Qawra said a police car drove up a one-way street. A caller urged work on City Gate and complained that “not even Arab cities are so derelict” while another complained that rust is taking over at Independence Garden in Sliema.

The minister announced that Malta will join Europol in October, thus becoming part of a Europe-wide security system and that work is proceding on the integration of Malta to the Shenghen system.

Referring to the asylum seekers situation, also in his ministerial remit, Dr Borg said there are around 80 such people in Malta, of which 500 are in detention. Taking a dig at the situation in Italy, Dr Borg said that Italy frees all asylum seekers within three weeks, and they can thus go to such places as Germany, whereas if Malta were to do the same, they would all remain in Malta. Nevertheless, Malta has one of the highest freedom rates for asylum seekers: around 50 per cent of those who come to Malta are given their freedom sooner or later.

Dr Borg referred to his forthcoming meeting with his Italian counterpart Giuseppe Pisanu and said they will try to have all Europe involved in tackling the illegal immigrant issue. Malta will also take part in Italian programmes.

Of the 300 asylum seekers of freedom, some 200 are housed by the church’s Emigrants Commission and around 14 by the Peace Lab. The rest are being fed and housed by the government but the time is coming, the minister warned, that those of the asylum seekers who are now working, will have to pay for their own upkeep. Caring for asylum seekers is costing Malta around Lm1 million a year.