During an interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday editor Noel Grima at the Independence Day celebrations at the Floriana Granaries, Dr Gonzi said the government was planning to put its foot down on abuses. He mentioned, among other things, illegal dumping, saying that the government will soon publish a number of regulations that would see an increase in fines for those caught littering.

Dr Gonzi mentioned an incident when government workers were cleaning up a site in Kalkara. Eight hours later, a mound of rubbish had been dumped illegally in the same place that had been cleaned up.

“The government is not going to accept this any longer. Every ministry has its responsibilities and maybe there are too many loose ends. In the coming weeks we will be tying up all these loose ends and setting up a unit which will be responsible for Malta’s cleanliness. After all, the tourism industry depends on this and thousands of families depend on tourism. It must be a concerted effort. We have to be disciplined,” he insisted.

During his interview, Dr Gonzi also spoke about the public transport system, saying that the bus drivers cannot expect the government to continue investing in them and the service they provide if this service needs to improve drastically.

Before continuing to subsidise the service, the government wants to see an improvement in the quality of the service being provided and in new routes to the university and Hal Far, for example.

Dr Gonzi also mentioned kerosene and the recent sharp increase in its consumption, especially during the summer months. He said he has been informed that a person had been caught purchasing duty-free diesel, mixing it with kerosene and selling it at commercial rates. The government is going to put its foot down on this matter, he promised.

The Prime Minister also mentioned a few figures related to the first half of this year which, he said, indicated that the country was on the right track and positive effects from the difficult decisions being taken are being felt.

Among others, he mentioned an increase in 23 per cent in new enterprises, an increase of 21 per cent in newly-set up companies, an increase of 26 per cent in investment in the manufacturing industry and an increase of 312 employees in this industry. He also mentioned 7,402 people registering on part one of the unemployment list and a fall of 10 per cent in government expenditure.

He defended the decision to purchase the Maltese embassy in Brussels, describing it as a “good investment” and announced that the government had appealed against the court decision to award Lm360,000 to former prime minister Dom Mintoff over the building of the Delimara power station.