Dr Gatt was speaking at a party activity at Zebbug PN club. He echoed Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, who just before him had said that despite having the opportunity to be part of the PAC and ask the questions he felt needed addressing, Dr Sant had chosen not to be part of the committee. He was only present for 18 minutes of the process, Dr Gonzi said.

The PAC had confirmed that government had managed the purchase of Dar Malta properly, Dr Gonzi emphasised. He said that the government had provided the opposition with all the information they needed, and had even asked Dr Peter Caruana Galizia and Architect Martin Xuereb to waiver professional confidentiality and answer all the questions they were asked by the committee.

“The opposition had the opportunity to have Alfred Sant on the commission but, strangely enough, he only attended the hearings for 18 minutes.” The result of the PAC confirmed our position, said Dr Gonzi. “The PAC had seen a Prime Minister appear before it for the first time ever, to answer questions on the issue, and yet the opposition leader did not have the courage to be on the committee and ask me the questions face to face,” he added.

Dr Gonzi was asked to amplify a number of issues that had hit the headlines last week, such as the Skanska chairman accepting an invitation to hold talks with the government over the Mater Dei issue. However, he chose to start with the meeting Minister Censu Galea had had with cargo handling representatives.

He said that the minister had managed to explain the government’s position with regard to the reforms government intends to implement in the ports. “We will be working hard on this reform over the coming weeks and therefore I regard this news as the most important of the week.”

Regarding the Skanska chairman’s agreement to discuss cost over-runs at the Mater Dei hospital directly with the government, Dr Gonzi did not want to dwell much on the matter.

He said that the meeting will be held some time next week or the one after, depending on the availability of the experts on both sides. “We will have to wait and see the outcome of the meeting. I have made my position clear, and hopefully we will have the opportunity to discuss the matter and find an acceptable solution.”

Dr Gonzi said that the government was working full swing on the 2005 budget which will, for the first time, include a five year projection of the government’s fiscal plans, he said.

He announced that over the previous week he had held meetings with a number of representatives from the private sector to obtain their comments regarding the 2005 budget, saying that there seems to be a consensus that government should prioritise a number of areas and work hard on them. “You cannot implement 100 projects with Lm10, it’s better if you focus on 10 projects,” he said. The government’s priorities will be tourism, the environment, Malta’s future in the financial services sector and education, said Dr Gonzi.

Providing quality education is a must for Malta, perhaps more than for other countries. He said Malta boasted a good standard of living, as a result of past investment in education.

He also spoke about the environment, saying that this was also a very important area that, if addressed properly, could have a positive ripple effect on the financial situation, especially by way of tourism.

Dr Gatt was asked how the surge in international oil prices was affecting the country.

He said that Enemalta will lose an extra Lm7 million, over and above what had been estimated.

Total losses will amount to some Lm11 million, he said. These are due to the fact that the company has absorbed the cost of the oil price increases, he explained, adding that the most worrying part is that it does not seem that the prices will go down anytime soon.

“We have no alternative but to raise Enemalta’s prices or raise taxes,” he said. There was no way of escaping it, said Dr Gatt, other countries have already gone down this road. However, government will be trying to put the burden on those who earn and consume the most, he said, contrary to what the Labour party had done in 1998.

He also announced that the government had plans to privatise Interprint – a printing press owned by the government. “I cannot understand why the government should have its own printing press when there are so many presses in Malta.”

Returning to his arguments regarding the PAC process, Dr Gatt said that although, in certain respects, the process had been a waste of time, important statements had been made, which had cleared the government of the doubts that had been created.

The strongest confirmation that the government had made a good decision came from businessman Albert Mizzi, he said, who stated that if the government were to sell him the property now, he would buy it.

The point was also made that everything had been done according to procedure and it was also unequivocally shown that Mimcoll had handled the entire process.