In what could certainly not be described as a tame public dialogue meeting, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday answered questions, sometimes heatedly, on education, financial reports, projects and price hikes put to him by l-orizzont editor Frans Ghirxi in the third meeting organised by the Nationalist Party to celebrate Independence Day.

Justice and Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg and Education, Youth and Sports Minister Louis Galea also participated in the meeting.

Mr Ghirxi’s first question to the Prime Minister was whether he agreed that the PN should make public where it receives its party’s funds.

Dr Gonzi said that his government placed employment, education and the environment as the three most important pillars of the country.

“This is what distinguishes us from the Malta Labour Party. The Maltese want to distinguish between the two parties. I, for example, have never heard Opposition Leader Alfred Sant speak about education,” he said.

Mr Ghirxi then told Dr Gonzi that there was no time left to speak about these things to which the Prime Minister replied jokingly “it doesn’t matter – we have time (ma jimpurtax – ghandna il-hin)” to a cheering and applauding audience.

He went on to say that in yesterday’s public dialogue, Dr Sant did not mention education once but only spoke about the drainage problem in Balluta – much to the amusement of the audience.

“I will make a very clear statement about this – as the head of a political party I am ready to publish all the financial statements and this is what we do. We publish audited financial statements of the political party and all its associated commercial companies,” he said.

He then told Mr Ghirxi to check whether the Labour Party does the same.

Throughout the public dialogue, Mr Ghirxi held a paper bag in his hand. He took out two boxes of a medicinal product and told Dr Gonzi that one was bought in Brussels and the other was bought in Malta.

“The one bought in Malta is Lm5.50 more expensive than the one bought in Brussels. People have noticed that prices are going up – what do you have to say about this?” he queried.

Dr Gonzi asked Mr Ghirxi to hand over the medicines to Health Minister Louis Galea, who was also present at the meeting, and told him that this will be checked out.

“If there is some form of abuse then someone will pay. Do you think that we are not aware of these things and that we are not concerned about them?” said Dr Gonzi.

However, he added, “is everything my government’s fault? Was the increase in the price of oil or grain my fault too?

Dr Gonzi said that Malta has to face the same challenges that other countries have to face.

Mr Ghirxi’s then asked Dr Gonzi what he had to say about “all the government projects that are delayed”.

An angry Prime Minister pointed out that this statement was a lie and that not all projects are unfinished or delayed.

“There are many projects that have been completed on time – if not before – and within the original estimated costs,” he said.

Dr Gonzi said that many new schools and roads, among other projects were built and completed within the set deadline.

Mr Ghirxi then mentioned the City Gate project.

Dr Gonzi quickly replied “well I haven’t done that project yet but I will do it.”

He mentioned the recently-launched 20 projects for the Grand Harbour and added that the Cottonera and Valletta waterfronts were another two projects that were completed and enjoyed by all.

“It is true that certain projects have been delayed – but is everything perfect?” he queried.

However, he told Mr Ghirxi that if the delay is the contractor’s fault then the government will sue him and fine him for his mistakes.

Dr Gonzi spoke about the delay on the reconstruction of Manuel Dimech Bridge. “It is true that there is a delay – the concrete used on the bridge was so strong that they had to import machinery from Italy to break it,” he said.

However, he added, “during my three years as Prime Minister, the projects we have completed are never-ending. During the 22 months Dr Sant was in government he only carried out one project – the embellishment project in Bugibba that cost twice the original estimates,” he said.

Mr Ghirxi asked Dr Galea if he was happy with the number of early school leavers.

Dr Galea mentioned his ministry’s slogan “For All Our Children To Succeed” and pointed out that his government had made an explicit commitment to ensure that no one is left behind.

“The number of school leavers has decreased by 14 per cent and we are introducing a new system whereby students will be followed from kindergarten up till the end of secondary school,” he said.

One of Mr Ghirxi’s questions to Dr Borg was about the government’s action on tackling the war against drugs.

Dr Borg pointed out that he did not believe that certain drugs should be legalised or classified as hard or soft drugs because eventually one addiction would lead to another.

Mr Ghirxi then asked why the government is not pushing for more action with other EU member states on the issue of irregular migration.

“We can’t impose on other countries to take irregular migrants – no one has the obligation to take them and that is why we are working on bilateral agreements with other countries,” said Dr Borg.