The Maltese people will achieve more success thanks to the Nationalist Party’s vision and its determination in facing global challenges that are affecting our country, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.
The government, he added, will be strengthening its focus on creating work, education and the environment.
Speaking yesterday at a party regional conference in Gozo, Dr Gonzi said the PN was discussing Gozo’s needs in a national way at the end of the party’s Independence celebrations.
“Our country is proud with its each and every achievement; this is why the PN led the way forward for the country to achieve Independence and European Union membership, while the Malta Labour Party was against both because of its inferiority complex,” said Dr Gonzi.
“Labour’s approach,” continued the Prime Minister, “made Gozo lose its status as a separate ministry as the MLP did not believe in the island’s regional identity. It has only come round to accept the idea after several electoral defeats.”
Dr Gonzi said the main difference between the two parties is that the PN speaks about a vision while the MLP is only keen on ridiculing people. “Malta does not need such people, but those who think and discuss new plans for the good of the country,” he said.
The Prime Minister praised the efforts of those who drafted the documents that were presented during the PN’s regional conference in Gozo. He explained that the government will in the coming weeks explain its initiatives in view of developing new economic activities in Gozo that will generate more work.
Dr Gonzi spoke about government’s vision for Malta, which will lead the country to excel in several areas including IT and e-services. He referred to a recent study that placed Malta second among EU countries that provide e-government services. “This is only the beginning,” he said, “as Malta will surely place first once SmartCity will be up and running.”
Gozo, said the Prime Minister, will surely benefit from the other pillars that make up the government’s vision for 2015 that also include financial services, tourism, health and education. Dr Gonzi pointed out that Gozo is high on the government’s priority list and to this end, the government is looking forward to make Gozo run on alternative sources of energy.
He explained that this aim will achieved also through the EUR855 million which the EU will be giving to Malta, 10 per cent of which will be solely dedicated to Gozo’s needs. Dr Gonzi lauded the Gozitans who are proposing ways on how to spend these funds.
Prime Minister Gonzi explained the challenges the country will face in the years to come, the first of which regarding education. Dr Gonzi explained that education in e-services and engineering will be crucial for Malta. “The country has to face the future by investing heavily in education on different levels, from scholarships for specialised studies to training people who want to grab the opportunities that will come in their way because of the country’s development.”
The international rise in price of fuels and cereals, said the Prime Minister, is another challenge that the country needs to face. The international prices of these goods have reached new record highs. Notwithstanding these challenges, said Dr Gonzi, the government succeeded in keeping the deficit below three per cent of the Gross Domestic Product and register the lowest inflation rate in 12 years. “This was all achieved thanks to the PN,” said Dr Gonzi, adding that the MLP in its tenure in the nineties achieved two negative records, an inflation rate of four per cent and a deficit of Lm300 million.
The country’s other challenge lies in its sustainability, according to Dr Gonzi. He said that the government has invested millions of liri in embellishment, restoration, the closing of the Qortin and Mghatab landfills and new sewage and waste treatment plants. The Prime Minister said the environment should be cared for, lest all past investments would be lost. Dr Gonzi pointed out that the MLP did not want to close down the landfills.
The Prime Minister ended his speech by claiming that the country’s development will evolve around the government’s three main pillars: work, education and the environment and these will help the country achieve its aspirations.
PN secretary-general Joe Saliba explained that the party last month did not only organise the Independence celebrations but also met a good number of stakeholders in different fields in order to draft the party’s future policies that will match the aspirations of the Maltese and the Gozitans. To this end, during the conference held yesterday, a number of reports were presented. Themes discussed included, education and IT, the economy, work, tourism and culture, health and the elderly and fisheries and agriculture.
Mr Saliba insisted that the PN forges its policies according to the needs and ambitions of the people, and the regional conference was held in Gozo to prove that contrary to the MLP that perceives Gozo as a burden, the PN believes that Gozo adds value to Malta.