The Opposition Leader’s “irresponsible” proposal to cut the surcharge on utility bills by half would cost the country Lm25 million, said Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday.

Speaking on the Nationalist Party-owned radio station, Radio 101, yesterday morning, Dr Gonzi spoke extensively about the pre-Budget document that was unveiled on Saturday and the agreement between the government and the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) regarding the reform of the education system.

He said that when drafting the document, the government took into consideration the financial cost of the 200-or-so

interesting proposals.

“We will not be putting the country’s finances at risk. We will be able to introduce a number of measures, thanks to the

positive economic and financial results that the country has managed to achieve, but we will do so in a highly responsible manner.

“In the coming weeks we will continue listening to any feedback on the pre-Budget document in the same open dialogue by means of which it was drafted,” said Dr Gonzi, appealing to the public to come forward with any possible comments and suggestions.

Regarding the opposition’s continuous criticism that the government has increased the tax burden, Dr Gonzi said this was another one of the MLP’s lies.

The government’s income has increased, he said, but this is because of the surge of economic activity, the generation of employment opportunities and strong foreign investment.

Referring to Opposition Leader Alfred Sant’s proposal to cut the fuel surcharge by half, the prime minister said this is not feasible and is another lie.

“Oil prices have shot up again, and Dr Sant would have to introduce another tax to finance his proposal.”

The Malta Labour Party has been consistently coming up with a number of mistaken decisions, he said, referring to another one of Dr Sant’s proposals – to devalue the Maltese lira by 10 per cent so that the country would be more competitive. This would have meant that importing oil would have been 10 per cent more expensive, said the Prime Minister.

Dr Gonzi spoke about the education reform that the current government had

committed itself to implementing at the beginning of its legislature.

He said the “historic” agreement reached with the MUT showed the government’s commitment to improve the education system.

Education, one of the government’s three main priorities, is the link between the other two – work, or the economy, and the environment, he said.

The Education Reform includes 70 measures that are intended to strengthen the system and is particularly aimed at students who require most help, said Dr Gonzi, adding that the reform is also intended to allow the government to make the best possible use of information technology in schools.

Education has also been given priority in the pre-Budget document, and after a record amount was invested in education last year, the government will be increasing its investment in this sector even further.

“We want our country to be among the best in Europe by 2015. We are half way there and we believe that the best way of reaching our target is to invest in our children’s future,” he said.

Incentives for pensioners to continue working are also included in the document, while the government will continue providing all its

support to women with regard to the choices they would like to make to strike a healthy family-work balance.

He said recent statistics had revealed that the country has reached European standards with regard to the percentage of Maltese women under the age of 25 that have a job. It is also encouraging that 60 per cent of university students are ladies, meaning that the percentage of women in the workforce will increase further. Moreover, women are now also choosing careers in a number of sectors, not only traditionally female-oriented jobs.

Dr Gonzi also referred to a number of measures that are addressed regarding the needs of people with a disability. He said everyone has the right to equal opportunities and society must open itself up to everyone, all the time.

Speaking about the EUR855 million (Lm367 million) in European funding that will be spent on a number of projects, he said that 10 per cent of these funds will be spent on projects in Gozo, which will be given absolute priority according to its specific needs.

“We have several interesting projects for Gozo, two in parti-cular – one this year and another one in 2008 – by means of which the sea around Gozo will be cleaned completely from sewage,” he said.

The government will be investing more than EUR3.5 million (Lm1.5 million) on a number of projects related to the environment and huge amounts on the restoration of fortifications, particularly the Gozo Citadel’s bastions.

Referring to the government’s investment in the health sector, Dr Gonzi said he was looking forward to the launch of the scheme that is being referred to as “The pharmacy of your choice”.

The plan is to launch a pilot project in Mosta whereby anyone entitled to free medication will be able to collect it from the pharmacy of their choice, he said.

The government is also planning to modernise and improve the services provided at Zammit Clapp Hospital, invest in the sector of cancer treatment and strengthen primary health care services.