The Malta Labour Party can create up to 2,000 new jobs by working hand-in-hand with manufacturing businesses, said party leader Alfred Sant.

Speaking during the programme Vici Versa, Dr Sant said that a balance needed to be struck between economic efficiency and social equity, while also looking at Malta in the context of being a small state in a large European market.

Dr Sant said the tax burden had increased tremendously and families were ending up without disposable income, meaning that the country was not competitive. He said that important sectors, such as tourism and manufacturing were falling behind and that this was coupled with the fact that there was a lot of internal inefficiency in the country.

Speaking about the water and electricity surcharge, Dr Sant said that consumers were paying for inefficiencies and this was not fair. He said: “If the government keeps passing the buck onto the consumer, it will have no incentive to solve these inefficiencies.”

He pledged that a Labour government would halve the surcharge, resulting in Malta becoming more competitive and in turn, creating economic growth.

The MLP leader also said that a recent Union Haddiema Maghqudin report had established that prices had gone up between five and 20 per cent in the past months.

Speaking on irregular immigration, Dr Sant said that this was an issue of defending the national interest. He said: “It is clear that Malta is the country that is receiving the most economic refugees and we cannot cope with this burden. We must work to secure more European Union funding and we must also press for fellow members to accept a number of immigrants from Malta.” However, he also said that people sheltering in Malta needed to be treated humanely and that Malta cannot adopt EU integration programmes as the country was simply too small and could not handle the burden.

Speaking about the difficulties of purchasing a house, Dr Sant said the MLP was proposing that first time buyers would get help. He said one measure was to offer subsidies on loan interest rates when they go over 4.5 per cent.

Dr Sant also said that government projects were never completed by the target date and that cost overruns were the norm. He said that as prime minister, he would take a zero tolerance stance on corruption. He also pledged to introduce a serious whistle blowing act. He said that while Dr Gonzi was comfortable in dealing with large banks and investors, he was not comfortable in dealing with Maltese families. “The MLP will put families at the centre of all its plans,” he said