The Prime Minister was holding his by now regular monthly press conference at Castille.

One of the targets of his insistence were the bus drivers and their association, following a report in yesterday’ l-Orizzont which stated that the bus owners’ association had reached an agreement with Minister for Transport Jesmond Mugliett that the negotiations on the new contract be postponed and the new agreement implemented next year.

Dr Gonzi however gave a completely different version to that published in l-Orizzont.

He referred to reports in yesterday’s media that the new buses purchased with a generous government subsidy were not being used while the bus drivers continued to go round with their older and more derelict buses.

He was stung to respond by a questioner who asked him if the government is closing the doors after the horses (buses) had bolted.

He said the government will be holding the bus drivers to the existing agreement and only if and when this agreement is completely implemented, will he then move to the next agreement.

For instance, he added, the existing agreement states that all bus drivers must wear uniforms. But on his way to Castille from his home yesterday he monitored every bus he passed on the road and he found that not even one bus driver was wearing the uniform.

In the l-Orizzont article, association president Victor Spiteri speaks as if it is the association’s right to discuss and negotiate the bus routes. But that, Dr Gonzi said, is the government’s right, not the association’s.

For instance, he added, the government wants to extend the bus service in the Hal Far area because two new and big factories have opened there. The government also wants to increase the frequency of buses to the university.

“It is only when I see that the existing agreement is working that I will be ready to discuss the new agreement,” he said. It is only when the service becomes acceptable that one can move on to a new agreement. Public opinion, he warned, is against bus drivers. Before the government agrees to raise the bus fare there first has to be an improvement in the quality of service given.

He also listed some of the items on the government’s agenda with regard to buses: discussions to cut down the fleet size, improvements of connections between towns and villages and the size of buses.

Another target for Dr Gonzi’s insistence was the amount of rubbish around. He announced that in a few days’ time new and very heavy fines are being brought in for anyone caught littering.

It is unacceptable, he said, that when a site is cleaned up, it is littered within hours. Why is this happening? Let no-one complain that the fines are too stiff. He also hopes that the Law Courts get the message and speedily process cases where people are charged with littering and fine them accordingly.

This led to a question expressing concern that with these hefty fines being imposed, the wardens will come down like a ton of bricks on those who work and cannot take out their rubbish at the stipulated time and take out their garbage bags when they leave for work.

Dr Gonzi agreed this should not happen but he then defended the wardens who have recently been blamed for hiding in order to catch people breaking the law and then fining them. The issue, he said, is that if a person has broken the law, that person is fined. People enforcing the law, such as wardens, but also policemen and so on must be serious and honest but also courageous.

A third target for his insistence on law observance were those who are abusing unemployment and social benefits.

This was occasioned by a question made by this paper, which asked him to comment on the fact that ex-dockyard people sent to work at Maltapost were found unsuitable, and a recruitment drive by the Armed Forces which usually used to receive around 1,000 applications is now reported to have received around 70.

This, Dr Gonzi agreed, is a very disturbing development. The workings for the recently published National Plan for Employment and the Plan against Poverty have shown that the Maltese people prefer certain jobs and avoid others.

The government is once again receiving a number of complaints from construction contractors who say they cannot find enough employees and want to import labour from abroad.

He has asked ETC to check on this and it is conducting an exercise right now. The study will see whether it is true, as if often alleged, that what with unemployment benefits and social assistance benefit one gets after being unemployed for six months, plus doing an odd unregistered job or two, allows people to get along nicely.

The government intends to cut down on all abuses, he said, not just this kind of abuse, but also abuse of VAT, Income Tax and people not paying their dues to the government.

Yesterday’s press conference was noticeable in that it was the first one in living memory that no question was asked about Dar Malta in Brussels.

This paper, however, asked Dr Gonzi if he thinks it was a good idea to send a junior minister to the Ecofin meeting in Sheveningen considering that Malta is spending so much to have a house in Brussels but then send a junior minister to important meetings.

Dr Gonzi replied that a parliamentary secretary is not a junior minister and he does not feel that Malta is under-represented at European Council meetings.

Every time there is a meeting abroad, one sees what is on the agenda and the level of representation is chosen at that point. The Sheveningen Ecofin meeting was only a preliminary one regarding the next EU budget. The discussions are still at a general stage.

Given that the new Opposition spin is to focus on the government’s lack of progress on certain public projects, Dr Gonzi was asked to state at which stage certain important projects are.

He replied that work is proceeding satisfactorily with regard to the roadworks being done.

As regards the Opera House site, the government is looking at all possibilities for this site. However, this must be considered within the context of the overall plan for Valletta. Discussions have already taken place with the ministerial committee on special projects and more studies are awaited.

As regards the Mater Dei Hospital,. Dr Gonzi said the government has been having detailed talks with Skanska on the whole contract. It is only when these discussions are over and all problems ironed out that the government will know the approximate date for the opening of the new hospital.

The discussions are at a very delicate stage, he said, since government wants every cost overrun to be justified and will pay only if it is convinced the cost overrun could not be avoided.

He added that other discussions which are taking place regard such important issues as the IT tender, the negotiations still to begin between the Department of Health and the unions and associations involved on work practices, and also discussions on the migration plan.

As regards the Mgarr and Cirkewwa terminals, the government hopes to conclude works on the Mgarr side by next year while work will continue on the quays and landside at Cirkewwa. The government expects this work to be concluded by 2006.

As regards the White Rocks project, a ministers’ meeting in the coming days will give the government’s reaction to the latest proposal by the consortium which won the tender.

Considering that a press conference by the Labour Party was going to be held in a few minutes’ time on the Connections project, Dr Gonzi was also asked to state at what stage the project is now.

He replied that he is insisting on one very important part of the Connections project, that which relates to a lift between upper Valletta and the Grand Harbour. This is very urgent considering the work the government is doing to upgrade Cottonera, Grand Harbour and the new Cruise Liner terminal. But when the tender was issued, no one tendered for it. The government is now considering other opportunities.

The original Connections concept had also included the digging of a tunnel under Valletta and the hollowing out of Palace Square with a car park and access to the tunnel therefrom. Dr Gonzi said that in his opinion and that of some experts, this should not be done as it is not a viable proposition.

In his introduction to the press conference, Dr Gonzi reflected on the meaning of 11 September 2001 for the world as a whole and for Malta in particular. The world is now a very different world from the optimistic world of the 1980s which saw the fall of the Berlin Wall and of Communism.

Speaking about his first five months in office, Dr Gonzi said the government is working on the priorities he had listed when he became Prime Minister and it is working hard to carry out the necessary reforms and restructuring.

With regard to the financial and economic situation, he added, the first results are very encouraging. The target for this year’s financial deficit, Lm95 million, looks like being within reach, but the price of oil is still a worrying factor. The economy, Dr Gonzi said, is moving in the right direction.

Dr Gonzi added that another worrying issue is the number of asylum seekers in Malta. There are now over 1,000 asylum seekers in Malta, 700 of whom came over this summer. 580 are being held at the detention centres at a high cost to the country while 400 are being held in open centres. The government is looking for alternative sites for these centres and is also trying to make them a better place to house the asylum seekers.

Government social care agencies are being fully utilised to provide the asylum seekers with the proper humanitarian services they require and which can be offered.

Dr Gonzi appealed to the public to consider the circumstances which made these people flee their countries and risk death by drowning in their search for a better quality of life. However, Malta must be helped at a European level, he added, mentioning that the choice of Italian Rocco Buttiglione as the commissioner in this respect was a wise choice by Commission president Barroso.

Replying to a specific question on the children of asylum seekers, Dr Gonzi said they are not being held in detention centres and all efforts are being made to provide them with care and services, including schooling, since these children are the victims of circumstances.

Dr Gonzi thanked the Church for a recent agreement to house these children in its institutes.

Finally, with regard to the MEPA decision on the Rabat golf course, Dr Gonzi, who denied his previous remarks had been intended to influence the MEPA board, said he still feels that Malta and Gozo should each have a golf course. MEPA has now been asked to find, in the quickest possible time, an alternative site to build a golf course. Golf courses, he added, do much to enhance the country’s perception abroad.