I list hereunder some of the blunders, abuses and complete disregard of the law by the Labour majorities in our localities. These facts are evidence of how the labour party governs our localities and are a warning to the Maltese people of what they will do, should they ever be trusted to govern the country.
Labour is only for Labourites
I have the names of a number of people who are being asked by the MLP to sit on local council selection boards to choose only Labour supporters for employment on the staff of local councils. So far, names of ex-Labour candidates feature in a number of local council selection boards such as Mtarfa, Mosta and Marsascala. This brings shame on those who agree to form part of these boards, a shame that is the MLP’s alone. This is proof of what the Labour Party will do to all the workers who do not agree with their political beliefs, if they are ever trusted with power.
The Labour way to govern
Mqabba. In two years they have made a mess of a local council that had a PN majority for 12 years. This Labour-led council has made a deficit of more than 40 per cent of the Government allocation.
Sta Lucija. This council has not paid the rent for its offices for over 12 years. Year after year it continues to finish with a financial deficit. The mayor, who is a member of the Association of Local Councils, and other Labour councillors are paid numerous allowances from the council, such as for the use of his personal car, his mobile, etc. This council spends Lm10,699 on hospitality, travel and transport and only Lm3,644 on repairs and maintenance for the whole village. Last year, all the councillors went on a visit to China out of council funds.
Birzebbuga. At this Labour-led local council, a company by the name of Ricky Ltd, in which the mayor had a major shareholding, has been renting a store/garage to the council for a number of years. The mayor receives on average the sum of Lm69 per month in allowances. According to the council’s payment schedule for January 2007, this Labour mayor received Lm193.84 as remuneration for a month, Lm69.35 for allowances and Lm225 as garage rent for three months, which is listed under Ricky Ltd Jos. Farrugia (the mayor). This means that the Labour mayor here nearly doubles his remuneration. I understand that Ricky Ltd ceased operations in July this year.
Paola. Also with a Labour-led council, there is no respect for the rules and regulations governing local councils. To be fair, matters here have slightly improved since the last council, when the mayor went on a visit to China as a guest of the Sta Lucija Council but paid all expenses from public funds. The Labour-led council here continues to break the law by employing between six to nine employees more than is legally permitted.
Hamrun. After two years declaring expenses of over Lm10,000 for the cleaning of beaches in their area, claiming later that it was only a mistake in their accounts posting, this council continues to abuse public funds by paying for expenses during the village festa and at the same time dishing out no fewer than Lm148,000 in warden tickets to balance their council’s books. There seems to be no end to the mistakes in this council’s accounts. The last auditors’ report highlighted these problems in the Hamrun council such as declaring a surplus when in fact there was a deficit of over Lm11,000.
Mosta. After 14 years of a PN majority, this council was taken over by the MLP by deceit and dirty political tricks. Everybody knows what happened about the handyman case and how Labour manipulated it. In the few months that they have been managing this council, Labour have abused their position by approving payments of over Lm40,000 without the council’s approval; holding council meetings at absurd hours that are inconvenient to the public, like meetings starting at 8.30pm and ending after midnight; the irregular opening of public tenders without the presence of councillors and the executive secretary as required by law and a number of other abuses
To be continued…………….
Pawlu Aquilina
PN Local Councils
Coordinator