Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi hit out at the Labour Party yesterday because its strategy to “attack people personally” had led to Dr Gordon Cordina’s resignation last Friday.
The director general of the National Statistics Office resigned after weeks of criticism by the opposition and its media over revisions to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures for the past 10 years. Revisions, the Statistics Authority had said, that are line with Eurostat guidelines and methodology.
Speaking in Swieqi, Dr Gonzi said the country had lost a competent man who was respected by his peers.
“This is a sad story and it uncovers the mask worn by the Labour Party. This party has not changed its ways. When you just scratch below the surface, you can see the same ugly past that caused so much damage to the country,” Dr Gonzi said.
“Labour continue to use the same strategy. They cannot find it in themselves to criticise without being personal,” the Prime Minister added.
He said the NSO is one of the country’s most important offices and one of the obligations of EU membership was that to set up an authority that oversees the work of that office.
Dr Gonzi insisted that the figures published are verified by the European Union and they are correct. He said the campaign against Dr Cordina began soon after he was appointed director general of the NSO with Labour’s Leo Brincat the first to publicly criticise the economist.
“We did not reply to Mr Brincat’s criticism. Mr Cordina was appointed because he is competent and has the qualifications to do the job. The Labour Party’s campaign against him began because during the referendum on EU membership he was one of those who spoke in favour of membership – like thousands of others did,” Dr Gonzi said.
It is so sad that this campaign has led to Dr Cordina’s resignation, he added, and it is scandalous that well-known Labour writer Joe Sammut personally attacked Dr Cordina in his articles.
“If Labour are doing this now that they are in opposition, what are they capable of doing when in government?” the prime minister asked.
He added: “Whenever the NSO issues negative statistics, Labour milk them for all their worth. But when the figures are positive then, according to Labour, the NSO is wrong and the figures are incorrect.”
Labour are now in a state of panic, he said.
“For three years they have been saying that the country is sinking but now they can see they were wrong. Instead of admitting that the country is doing well, they just attack people. This makes us all the more determined to work harder for the good of the country,” he said.
The Prime Minister said that in 2007, people will start to benefit from an improved economy and that the SmartCity project will put Malta on the world’s ICT map.
Industry, Investments and IT minister Austin Gatt spoke at length about SmartCity. He said Tecom had invested in Malta because the government in the 1990s had foreseen the need to invest in technology and the government was delivering on its promises.
Dr Gatt said that although the project would be creating a potential 7,600 jobs one had to consider the trickle down effect of the Lm110 million investment.
He said the first offices will be up and running 18 months after the permits are issued, and this will hopefully take place by May or June.
“And it is not true that we will not have enough people in IT. The ICT phase has to be completed in eight years, creating 3,600 ICT jobs. Around 600 are graduating in ICT from university and MCAST every year, so the jobs can be taken up by the Maltese on their own,” Dr Gatt said.
The minister also criticised the Labour Party for constantly trying to undermine the government’s efforts to conclude the negotiations. He said the delay to conclude the negotiations was not Labour’s fault but their attitude did not help.
When the project is completed, Malta will be the leading ICT country in Europe, he said, adding that two factors worked in Malta’s favour: a highly skilled, quality workforce and a serious government.
“The government has a clear long-term policy, investors know what to expect from us and they are confident that their investment is safe,” Dr Gatt said.
Urban Development and Roads minister Jesmond Mugliett spoke about the various road projects that have been concluded and others that are being built with funds from the EU.
He said the government was making full use of the funds it receives, the money was being were well-spent and it knew exactly what had to be done. Plans to build or repair over 400 residential roads were also on track with a number of tenders expected to be issued soon, the minister added.