Malta Labour Party acting leader Charles Mangion yesterday presented a list of 40 medicinal products the price of which increased between two per cent and 84 per cent between October and December.

This had happened, he told MLP supporters in Zebbug, at a time when there was supposed to be an agreement to freeze all prices. The truth, he said, was otherwise.

Giving an example, he said that ventolin was bought two euros less in Italy. Dr Mangion asked why was there such a difference in the price, adding that the mechanisms that were supposed to protect the consumer were not functioning and this was giving rise to abuse.

Some time ago the Prime Minister was saying that nothing could be done to control inflation. Last summer, however, the government had come up with an agreement to freeze prices at least until March.

In spite of this, prices continue to rise, Dr Mangion said, asking why importers were bound not to increase prices for only six months.

A Labour government is committed to strengthen the price monitoring systems and will be publishing a report every six months. Whoever was caught abusing will be named and shamed, Dr Mangion said, reiterating Labour’s pledge to cut the water and electricity surcharge by half.

The MLP acting leader said that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had said, in 2006, that 2007 would have been an exceptional year. But statistics proved a different matter. Eurostat figures showed that between April and September, Malta’s economy had become smaller.

Between April and June, the country’s economy had decreased by 1.5 per cent over the three previous months, and between July and September it had decreased by 2.1 per cent over the previous three months. This happened at the same time that the economy in other countries had expanded.

Dr Mangion said that the country will soon be the judge of what the government has done. One has to keep in mind that although the government’s income from taxes, the sale of national assets and from EU funds had reached EUR1,164 million in three years, the debt had reached EUR 3.49 billion. The country was paying EUR 200 million interest.

From a reply given in Parliamwnt, a EUR260 million lump sum received by the government from the EU had been added to the government’s income without being linked with any project.

The MLP promised that EU funds will be used seriously, and it will not tolerate that projects end up costing double their original estimate or more. The Prime Minister had promised that recurrent expenditure would not increased by more than EUR16 million euro, when in fact it had risen by EUR81 million.

A Labour government will use taxpayers’ money in a transparent manner. Labour’s policies will lead to a better standard of living, he said, adding that Labour will work to create more job opportunities and to increase the country’s competitiveness.

The MLP is proposing to eliminate tax on overtime, an idea that will mean that workers will have more spending power.

He urged the people to exchange their liras into euros as the new currency has now become part and parcel of our lives. He also praised the performance given by the National Philharmonic Orchestra led by Mro Michael Laus, tenor Joseph Calleja and soprano Miriam Gauci during activities marking Malta’s entry into the eurozone.

MLP deputy leader for party affairs Michael Falzon said that the MLP annual general conference to be held in two weeks’ time will be important on three counts – it will be the last before the general election, will see the return of MLP leader Alfred Sant in political activities after the surgery he underwent last month and will discuss three motions that will show the MLP’s commitment, courage and willingness to remain faithful to its socialist beliefs, ensure that justice is done with everyone and give the country confidence and a sense of direction.

Dr Falzon said that an MLP government will offer successful people the opportunity to further their achievements, while at the same time it will offer support to people who need assistance.

The government boasted of being state of the art but in the last three years thousands of ID cards had expired and they had not been renewed, he said. But one cannot expect better from a government that is past its sell-by date and which therefore needs to be replaced, Dr Falzon said.