The opposition will decide on how it will vote on a government motion to transfer land at Ricasoli to be developed into the SmartCity project “depending on the government’s reaction to amendments being proposed by the opposition,” Labour spokesman for foreign affairs and IT Leo Brincat told The Malta Independent yesterday.
When asked what position the MLP will be taking at the end of tonight’s sitting, Mr Brincat said “it would be presumptuous of me to commit myself as to how the opposition will be voting at this stage, when we still have to table a number of amendments the government reaction to which is still obviously unknown”.
He added that what is sure is that the opposition will be acting responsibly and that the amendments are being tabled with a view to make of this project a truly national one.
For his part, Investment, Industry and IT Minister Austin Gatt said that if the opposition does not want to hinder the project, all they have to do is join the government in voting in favour. “Any other vote would send a very wrong signal to foreign investors,” Dr Gatt said.
The minister added that “I have duly replied to the opposition’s comments both during the committee stage and also during the plenary session. What MLP define as ‘the best conditions’ is a typical Labour position of being neither here nor there. The government has negotiated for 10 months with Tecom and has concluded what is deemed to be a fair and equitable agreement. What MLP are referring to as ‘best conditions’ is only an exercise in bickering and nitpicking intended to delay the way forward unnecessarily.”
Parliament is expected to decide tonight after three plenary sessions were dedicated to the subject, following Labour’s negative vote during yesterday week’s National Audit Office Accounts Committee.
But Mr Brincat said that the MLP is in no way against the project, as Nationalist media tried to portray Labour’s position in the committee to be. “We are of course in favour of the project. But we wanted to go into detail, eliminate any shortcomings and most of all, obtain watertight conditions in the best interest of the country,” Mr Brincat said.
When he was referred to comments made by Investment, Industry and IT Minister Austin Gatt during last Thursday’s Net TV programme Doksa – that Labour will eventually vote in favour of the project – Mr Brincat said that last year, Nationalist Party exponents had said that Labour would have voted against.
“We have been accused of delaying the project. But I do not think that we have done so. We have agreed on three plenary sessions and a decision will be taken tomorrow (tonight). We have not delayed the process but only postponed it by a few days. The minister himself said that the agreement with the developers will be signed after Easter, and therefore we are still very much in time,” Mr Brincat said.
In a press conference last week, MLP deputy leader for parliamentary affairs Charles Mangion said that the MLP believed that the importance of the transfer of land for the SmartCity project warranted a discussion at plenary level in Parliament.
The ministry had then replied that every single objection raised by the opposition during the committee session had been given a clear and detailed answer by Minister Gatt.
But Labour had insisted that the issue be raised in a plenary session and the two sides had agreed on three sessions. The first two were held on Tuesday and Wednesday, the third will be held tonight.