Labour leader Alfred Sant said the party was concentrating its efforts on local government, delivering what is promised within the stipulated time so “when the time comes, we will be ready, stronger than ever before, to take over the leadership of the country”.

Speaking in Hamrun, Dr Sant said the MLP was preparing the way for a new government after the next general election, adding that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s government, like that of his predecessor Eddie Fenech Adami, was tired and lacked new ideas for creating jobs and attracting investment to the country.

Speaking about the country’s economic situation, Dr Sant said this was continuously deteriorating, with unemployment, and the lack of investment, on the increase. He said that as a result of this, the future of a number of hotels and other businesses was in doubt.

Moreover, he said, it seemed that government was not really aware of this situation. He added that official figures for the second quarter this year showed that the local economy continued to deteriorate, making Malta one of the only European countries whose economy had worsened so much. It is, he said, a worrying situation.

Dr Sant also mentioned Malta Enterprise, an amalgamation of the Malta Development Corporation, the Malta Export and Trade Corporation and the Institute for the Promotion of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. He described the newly set-up entity as a mess, adding that it was not giving the expected results. He said that when it was set up, the MLP had said that it would not work and that is exactly what happened.

Dr Sant also spoke about the introduction of the Euro, saying the government was undecided about this, sometimes saying it will be introduced in three years and at other times saying it will be introduced sometime in the future.

Dr Sant dedicated a good part of his speech to the same subject he brought up during his speech last Sunday: the Freeport’s investment in a company based in Brindisi which, he said, had yielded no profits.

He said that despite several requests, the government had not yet provided the opposition with an explanation about the millions of liri which had vanished into thin air because of an investment in a company which had gone bankrupt.

Dr Sant said the situation was similar to the investment national airline Air Malta had made in airline company Azzurair, which was later wound down because it was in the red. He also compared the situation to Air Malta’s purchase of the Avro aircraft, which were later found to be too expensive to run.

He promised that the Labour Party will continue to demand an account and an explanation of what exactly happened and how many millions of liri were lost.

“The MLP is not going to accept situations whereby the government continues spending public funds and then does not explain where these have gone,” he said.

Speaking about the number of privatisations of the Malta International Airport, Dr Sant said that since this had been privatised, there had been a two per cent increase in the number of flights to Malta. “Is this why we privatised 40 per cent of the company?” he asked. Regarding Maltapost, Dr Sant said that since the New Zealand company had taken over the management of Maltapost, the postal service in Malta had worsened and there had been a considerable increase in the number of customers complaining about the company’s service.

Dr Sant also spoke about the privatisation of the management of the Malta Freeport to a French company which worked very closely with Marin Hili, the former Freeport chairman. He said the government has not yet given an account of the financial status of the Freeport’s subsidiary companies.

His speech would not have been complete without a mention of the infamous Dar Malta in Brussels. He said that following the Public Accounts Committee meetings last week, the Maltese public had every reason to be angry with the government.

He said that no government representative had ever taken into consideration whether the country could actually afford the embassy. They had completely ignored the country’s poor financial situation and had even gone against the principle of efficiency, which the government itself is saying it wants to introduce.

Now that the mess has been made, the Prime Minister is trying to assure the people that the refurbishment of the embassy will not exceed Lm2.5 million. Will we be seeing a similar situation to that of the Mater Dei hospital with regard to costs, he asked.

Referring to Richard Cachia Caruana, Dr Sant said that throughout the process it was clear that everyone was trying to hide the fact that the whole deal was his work of art. He said this was confirmed when lawyer Peter Caruana Galizia said clearly in his testimony that it was Mr Cachia Caruana himself who had taken the decisions all along.

He also mentioned the consultants commissioned to carry out work for the government. Two of these – architect (Martin Xuereb) and lawyer (Dr Caruana Galizia) – were good friends of Mr Cachia Caruana.

He said that the government tried to defend itself by calling to its defence a businessman whose only job had been to state whether the property was a good buy. Whether the deal was a good one in light of Malta’s financial situation was never mentioned, he said.

Dr Sant also claimed that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi took a number of journalists from The Malta Independent and Malta Today for a meal during which, it was claimed, Dr Gonzi reminded them that they were PN supporters and that with their writing they were helping the MLP.

He also spoke about the idea of organising a national conference on illegal immigration, a problem which was affecting and worrying Malta and its people. He said that illegal immigration should be a national issue and insisted on the need for a national policy on the matter.

He complained that the government does not have its issues prioritised properly regarding this problem, asking: “How is it possible that boatloads of illegal immigrants land in Gozo and we only find out when they arrive in Rabat? There is something wrong.”

Dr Sant called for a national conference where all those involved can give their view on the matter and an action plan can be drawn up. He said that it was no longer possible for the matter to remain within the limited confines of the respective ministers. “Everyone should be involved – ministries, agencies and NGOs – but, here again, the interests of the country have to be prioritised and partisan politics put aside once and for all,” he said.