Other manufacturing industries are being processed by Malta Enterprise and possible factory sites are being identified and chosen for them.

There may also be developments in the financial services sector, Dr Gonzi hinted.

Dr Gonzi was speaking during a phone-in programme on Radio 101 yesterday morning.

Dr Gonzi did not say how many jobs will be generated by these six companies and insisted they are coming to Malta for a reason – because Malta provides them with a competitive advantage.

Dr Gonzi, repeating most of what he has been saying over the past days, outlined three challenges for Malta:

• Tackling the economy and becoming more competitive, increasing productivity;

• Improving the educational level of the Maltese not just through more access to university and MCAST but also by improving schools from primary levels upwards; and

• Tackling the problems of the environment by changing the way people think and act.

The Prime Minister had a rather funny story to tell his listeners: a few days ago, his messenger, who was carrying his briefcase as he accompanied Dr Gonzi out of Castille, was mistaken by some Swedish tourists for the Prime Minister of Malta, much to the man’s bemusement.

Dr Gonzi promised that when he returns from the UN this week (see page 2) he intends to call a meeting of key ministers and draw up a list of harsh fines for litter bugs. The meeting will also draw up plans to gather all government cleaners in one unit and under one head for more efficient action.

He complained that 100 trees which had just been planted in Mellieha were pulled up within hours and that the Kalkara industrial area, which had been cleaned up, was filled with discarded rubbish in just a few hours’ time. It’s almost as if someone is doing this on purpose, he exclaimed.

Dr Gonzi added that a key area which is overdue for a clean-up and renewal is the Opera House site and City Gate. Maybe it is time we looked again at the Renzo Piano plans for this site, he said. Another project is the upgrading of Dock Number One area.

All in all, from Gzira to Cospicua, he added, the private sector is investing some Lm170 million while a further Lm50m investment is being channelled in hotels.

There is a discrepancy somewhere, he added: on the one hand 7,400 are registering for work, even if this number is decreasing, while on the other hand serious contractors tell him they cannot find workers. When he asked ETC to check this out, it resulted that many people they sent for and offered Lm60 a week jobs, turned them down, some for genuine reasons and some for spurious ones.

If no Maltese workers are found, there will be increased pressure to bring in workers from abroad. Experience has shown that these people, when allowed to work in Malta, do not really train Maltese workers in their skills, Dr Gonzi said.

On the political level, Dr Gonzi laughed off claims by the Labour Party that it had been instrumental in reverting the payments by satellite dishes owners: the Labour Party did not want satellite dishes at all, as it did not want, at other stages in its history anything, from mobile phones to computers and colour TV sets, he said. Nor did it want Malta to join the EU, and it is now saying it urged the EU to take action on these satellite dishes charges.