“There has been only one government that was forced into action because its Health Department sued the Water Services Corporation (WSC) and that one is led by the Nationalist Party,” stated Opposition Leader Alfred Sant yesterday during a party activity in Mellieha.

The Malta Labour Party leader referred to the drainage leak in Balluta Bay, St Julian’s. Dr Sant said, “Anyone in government would have had the commonsense to take direct action instead of waiting for a department and corporation to play ping pong in court.” He insisted that the MLP visited the site because it holds at heart the welfare and the quality of life of citizens and the tourism industry.

The Opposition Leader said his party was accused of looking for the current administration’s negative aspects and run a negative campaign, but he hit back that there is no need for in-depth analysis as incompetence is sprouting everywhere. He referred to another incident in which the WSC was involved when the corporation’s heavy machinery dug up a field which was earmarked against development. “After they dug up the field,” said Dr Sant, “the WSC realised that they should have dug up another field right across the street.”

Dr Sant said an MLP administration will govern without arrogance and by paying attention to the people. “We are doing so now through our Pjan ghall-Bidu Gdid (Plan for a new beginning) where the MLP has listened to everyone’s suggestions and included the valid ones in its plans.”

Dr Sant said an MLP administration will govern without arrogance and by paying attention to the people. “We are doing so now through our Pjan ghall-Bidu Gdid (Plan for a new beginning) where the MLP has listened to everyone’s suggestions and included the valid ones in its plans.”

He said this method is currently being employed in the party’s drawing up of a plan for Grand Harbour. Dr Sant said the MLP is meeting all the stakeholders in between Kalkara and Sliema, and will present its plans after evaluating all suggestions. He accused the PN of producing attractive models and artists’ impressions of projects which only took into consideration the area between Kalkara and Valletta.

He said that the PN is now panicking because of its “blunder” and is meeting interested parties in order to partly patch up the plan by including Gwardamangia. The Labour leader said the PN has a long history of projects which have only reached the cardboard model stage.

The MLP leader said his party in government will see to giving the Maltese good value for the taxes they pay, “unlike the PN which in the past four years overran its budget by Lm191 million in its projects and has spent Lm300 million on a new hospital which has been passed on to it three months ago and is still not operational.” He compared Mater Dei Hospital to a family who has bought a new car and has left it in a garage for three months. “That family would have had to pay for the car’s road licence and insurance while not using it, thus wasting its resources.”

Dr Sant said the MLP’s diligent management has already been experienced on a local level, where in Mellieha the party increased its lead on the PN after its first term as the leading party in the council.

The Public Broadcasting Services, said the Labour leader, is in a mess. The company should preserve the country’s national values through its programming, however, according to Dr Sant, it is only serving to boost the PN’s interests during the election campaign. “This can be seen after taking a look at the programming schedule and seeing who will run the current affairs programmes,” said Dr Sant.

He referred to the Independence Day celebrations by the PN, and accused the party of being arrogant and double faced. He recounted how on Wednesday, One News journalist Charlon Gouder interviewed Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi at the granaries and his microphone was purposely switched off at times. Dr Sant described how when Mr Gouder asked Dr Gonzi what would he do if the PN was to lose the election, Parliamentary Secretary Toni Abela was caught on tape saying that Mr Gouder would have to emigrate if the MLP was to lose the election.

Dr Sant said that the government is concentrating on building new schools while the illiteracy rate is one of the worst in Europe. He referred to the party’s education plan which suggests the inclusion of an extra scholastic year aimed on making sure that students moving on to secondary schooling are literate as well as the building of a another Junior College in the north of Malta.

Deputy leader Michael Falzon said the MLP’s message “is not isolated but is what the people want, and they want a change.”

He called on the Broadcasting Authority to probe into the conflicts of interest at PBS and quoted the company’s former editorial board chairman John Camilleri who stated that “Maltese public broadcasting is in a miserable state”.

Dr Falzon accused government of not delivering its promises and that it has reached new lows thanks to its arrogance. He said the St Luke’s Hospital incinerator is still bellowing smoke, while there is a medical brain drain going on.

He said the country will see a smokescreen now that elections are looming, as the PN has started its “decoy game” by diverting public attention to party funding, 14 years after the MLP had agreed to the adoption of the Galdes report. Dr Falzon said it was the PN that rejected the report and after all these years of doing nothing about it decided on rehashing it right before an election.