One week into the month of September, the routine motions are being put in place as the government continues to work for the good of the country.

For its part, the Malta Labour Party continues to issue more assurances that all the ills that Malta has will be erased by the next Labour government, and this without spelling out what is going to be done and without submitting any concrete proposals. Sometime, someone must give the voting population something, some ideas on their vision forward. Vague propositions have become the order of the day for opposition spokesmen; what they have said so far will not have the desired effects.

On the contrary, the people have welcomed the document prepared by the government on the way forward as perceived by the prime minister, quoting facts and figures, goals and targets with datelines.

You may love or hate this document, but it certainly gives you a road map, a secure feeling of somebody knowing where to go, what to do and where to arrive. A programme not based on u-turns. After all, what is a u-turn? It is a rejection of a policy, outlined by somebody, and rejected by the voting public. Thus, to their credit the Labour camp have come up with various proposals and alternatives to implement when in government, only to have to do these u-turns, not out of want or conviction, but because they are forced by the public and by their internal power struggle.

The government, on the other hand, is consistent in its proposals, and has given everyone sufficient time to provide constructive feedback. It has a vision for a forward plan, not mapped out solely for 12 months but one that looks several years ahead. These are strategic years where the next EU budget will have a significant effect on the Maltese islands.

Already millions of euros have been pumped into our economy and more millions will keep on coming. This will happen although the oil price will continue to affect all decisions, and will probably affect each and every country’s economy in 2006, with Malta no exception. To keep the whole island on course, notwithstanding such huge handicaps coming from the outside world – where a storm, a strike or accidents all help to push up the oil price to historic levels – is certainly no mean feat.

It really means that without the oil price as it is today, the present government would be in a much healthier position, and therefore its promises to the electorate in 2003 would have been fulfilled much earlier than expected.

The immigration numbers are a problem, and here, again, we have the Labour Party saying that we can solve this problem on our own. Of course, the Maltese would like to have this problem solved, so that so many man-days – or is it man-years now? – can be used elsewhere.

Of course, everybody would like to see the millions of liri that the government is spending on feeding the immigrants being used elsewhere. Of course, we do not like to see so many people in such a desperate state that they are forced to leave their country. What I cannot see, because their proposal is again void of any substance, is the modus operandi of such a solo, unique solution.

The EU as a whole has to come to grips with this situation, find a common solution and implement it.

As a last note, I cannot but comment on the meeting that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi will have with American President George W. Bush in Washington next month.

Such a meeting will only enhance Malta’s role internationally, while at the same time serving the local good. It has, after all, not been such a sleepy summer, as the government has done its groundwork for the coming months and year in a very satisfactory manner.

Robert Arrigo is a Nationalist MP