No matter how convincing the Prime Minister tries to sound, he simply cannot afford to further detach himself from reality. Particularly when it comes to the situation in the local labour market.

The recently released Labour Force Survey for October 2005 shows that while a number of new jobs might have been created for females, male unemployment has shot up from 6.3 per cent to 6.7 per cent on a year-to- year basis.

The same can be said for the self-employed. While those with employees have registered a marginal increase, self-employed persons without any employees went down from 14,075 to 12,718 persons.

According to the Employment and Training Corporation, December unemployment figures were the highest during the previous eight months.

The government should come clean and own up to the fact that the number of people being struck off the unemployment register is on the increase.

During 2005, some 2,300 persons were struck off the unemployment register, some 700-1,000 persons more than were actually struck off during the previous five years and 1,400 persons more than were struck off the unemployment register in 2003 – election year.

The number of people seeking employment remains alarming at 11,546, according to the latest Labour Force Survey.

During the last seven years there have been some 17,300 redundancies given – an average of seven discharges a day. Forty per cent of those made unemployed during the last seven years were made redundant after the last general elections of 2003.

During the same period – the last seven years – some 87 factories closed down, 48 of which wound up their business after the latest general elections.

Between July 2004 and January 2006, the number of workers engaged in local industrial sectors decreased by nine per cent – 1,423.

Although Hal Far was intended as the new hub of industrial activity it was the particular industrial estate which shed most employees – 825 persons as compared to 83 in Bulebel, 284 in Marsa and 128 in San Gwann.

Between August 2005 and January 2006 – a five-month period – the number of companies operating in the Maltese and Gozitan industrial sectors decreased by 20 (circa five per cent.)

While the government has been pledging maximum support for the self-employed, seasonal findings by the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises painted a rather dismal situation.

In the wake of the July trade-fair, 70 per cent of exhibitors found that they had experienced a substantial reduction in sales as compared to the previous year while 40 per cent were undecided whether they should even participate in similar fairs in future.

In December, the GRTU found that 50 per cent of its members had fared worse than they had expected during the Christmas period in terms of sales.

Regarding economic prospects, in January, the GRTU found that:

62 per cent of the self-employed saw their sales decrease between 2004 and 2005;

80 per cent felt that 2006 would be a worse year than 2005 or at best would remain static;

86 per cent considered that they would either retain the same labour force or actually downsize it;

58 per cent felt that in order to expand their business activities they needed to be taxed less;

56 per cent felt that in order to step up their commercial operations there was urgent need for less bureaucracy.

These are the hard and harsh facts that one expects the PM to focus on during his forthcoming public interventions. A far cry from the upbeat impressions given during a recent business breakfast.

The Council of Europe January session

The latest session of the Council of Europe, which I attended in Strasbourg, was quite intensive.

Apart from being appointed vice-chairperson of the subcommittee on external relations of the Political Affairs Committee, as well as a member of the Middle East and human rights sub-committees, I was given the burdensome task of serving as a rapporteur on future Council of Europe relations with Lebanon.

This will no doubt involve extensive research work, as well as the possibility of a fact finding mission – the security situation permitting.

We were also treated to a so-called current affairs debate on the Dick Marty Report on the detention centres and CIA flights across Europe. What we were presented with was in actual fact an interim memorandum since the rapporteur’s findings have so far been inconclusive in the sense that he is still awaiting feedback from EU member states. Nevertheless, he reached one important conclusion.

That it was very hard to believe that the governments and/or security services involved were not aware of such goings on if they took place on their respective territories. I understand that the Maltese government has been given up to the third week of February to reply to a set of questions by the Council of Europe secretary general, while the Marty report, if finalised and concluded, is expected to be discussed in plenary come next April.

email: [email protected]

Leo Brincat is the Main Opposition Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and IT.