Year after year, he said, the MLP has been delivering its message of work, protection and dignity in relation to the needs of families.
The party, said Dr Sant, worked in order to create jobs in the tourism, commercial and financial sectors. He said the party’s eagerness to create more jobs in collaboration with all those of goodwill is conducive to MLP’s intention that it “means business”. The MLP, said its leader, has created a number of proposals based on the abilities of the Maltese which will boost economic growth and increase employment in a Eurozone economic scenario.
The MLP regional plans for the Grand Harbour region, the South, St Paul’s Bay and Gozo were created with a view of creating more jobs and improving the quality of life of Maltese families by increasing public and private investment. This, said Dr Sant, would also allow for the utilisation of resources that have until now been hidden.
He accused the government of venting hot air rather than taking concrete action. Dr Sant said the former Children’s Commissioner had resigned her post because she was not given the necessary tools to carry out her work, showing that the government was lying when it said that it had children close to its heart.
The Labour party, said Dr Sant, carried on its work in the context of an “incompetent and corrupt” government so keen on tending to its public relations that it assigned contracts to friends, in turn leaving Maltese families to cope with increased burdens when compared to the EU average. He said that the MLP would not pretend that the country was rosy and red but will continue telling the truth.
Dr Sant outlined the party’s strategy with regard to the education sector. He said that EU statistics showed that Maltese children are leaving formal schooling without achieving the desired skills that would help them in the employment market. To this end, he said, Labour was proposing a reception class between kindergarten and primary level in order to make sure that more resources are focused on putting solid foundations to children’s schooling.
The Labour leader said ministers were behaving in an arrogant manner. He accused Resources and Infrastructure Minister Ninu Zammit of “arranging for a compensation to be given to him in return of land expropriated 20 years ago” and Parliamentary Secretary Carm Mifsud Bonnici of assigning contracts to the family of a notorious drug dealer.
He also referred to a man who worked for weeks in the Gozo Ministry with a forged school certificate and a person who went out on Lm25,000 bail.
Dr Sant also accused Prime Minister Gonzi of giving his blessing at the awarding of the Manwel Dimech surveillance contract to a business partner of Urban Development and Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett.
The Opposition Leader said government hid the country’s inflation problem under the carpet and quoted the EU Consumer Affairs commissioner who said that Malta did not have structures guaranteeing consumer protection. He said that the government tricked the Maltese into thinking that its inflation was imported while food, clothes and medicine rates are double and triple the EU average.
Dr Sant said the MLP was committed to bring about a change in a quiet and tranquil manner founded on honesty and justice.
Deputy leader for Party Affairs Michael Falzon criticised the government for boycotting members of the judiciary.
Deputy leader for Parliamentary Affairs Charles Mangion called for diversification in the manufacturing sector especially towards the environment. He commented that the MLP in government would be committed to a more equal distribution of wealth.