A new Labour government will keep its promises and will give the country and its citizens whatever it promises in its electoral manifesto, Labour Leader Alfred Sant said yesterday.

Speaking during a discussion meeting at the Labour headquarters yesterdat, Dr Sant said that the party’s forthcoming general conference, planned for the beginning of February, brings to an end a long and winding consultation process during which the party prepared its plan which will be put into practice as soon it regains power following the next general election.

Dr Sant said that during this process, the party renewed its policies and as a result of this process, it was in direct contact with the citizens, listening to their needs and complaints.

Speaking about the Smartcity project, Dr Sant said this proposed investment was announced more than a year ago, just before the local council elections. Since then, nothing has been said or done about this project. He said that it is possible that in the next few days, Prime Minister Gonzi will give an update on what happened to this project. “Why did it take the government a year,” he asked.

Dr Sant that according to the government’s plans, only 19 per cent of the Smartcity project will be totally dedicated to information technology while the rest will consist of a hotel, villas, luxury apartments and various shops.

The Labour Leader said that the Maltese people want a change and only the Labour Party can provide this breath of fresh air. He promised that the MLP will continue to press for the truth and will continue uncovering things rather than making several promises and not keep any of them.

Addressing the issue of cost of living, Dr Sant said that its rise is undermining the country’s competitiveness. He said life has become too expensive and this was why the MLP is promising to half the water and electricity surcharge.

On the issue of the National Statistics Office and the claim of twisted statistics, Dr Sant said the Prime Minister is responsible for the figures and insisted that political responsibility has to be shouldered by Dr Gonzi.

Dr Sant said that the bottom line is that the country needs a serious leadership, with a serious government which knows what it is doing. He asked why the government had ignored the proposals put forward by the Commissioner for Children. He asked why the St Paul’s Bay, Qawra and Bugibba tourist area has been left in such a disastrous state, especially when the inter-ministerial committee on tourism is headed by the Prime Minister.

Labour deputy leader Charles Mangion also spoke during yesterday’s political meeting. He said that the credibility of the National Statistics Office has been seriously undermined with the surfacing of the twisted figures issue. He said that in view of the importance of statistics, especially for potential investors, the MLP has commissioned a technical study on recent revisions introduced by the NSO. Dr Mangion said recent revisions included those on employment and economic growth.

As an example of the twisted statistics, Dr Mangion mentioned the 1996 budget deficit figures published by the NSO. He said that more than two years after publishing these figures, the NSO issued a correction saying it had made a mistake of around Lm80 million in its deficit figure.

The discussion meeting was also addressed by Labour MPs Marie Louise Coliero Preca and Dr Karl Chircop.