The Nationalist Party has a vision for this country and, together with the Maltese people, wants to work to achieve it to bring about greater wealth and well-being through the creation of more and better jobs, a safer environment and better health services, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.
Speaking in Msida, Dr Gonzi said the people were not afraid to face new challenges because it believed in its capabilities. The PN had confidence in the people, and had already proven that it can bring out the best to achieve a better standard of living.
The PN is a party that creates employment. Investment in the country was rising because the government had given a steady direction to the country. Such an investment was leading to more jobs for young people and women, and pensioners now had also been given the right to continue working while receiving a pension.
In 12 months, the number of full-time jobs had increased by 2,227, part-time jobs increased by 3,561 and unemployment had decreased by 1,000, Dr Gonzi said. Today, the country can boast that it has the highest number of people in employment.
As a father, the Prime Minister said he felt the satisfaction of parents who see their children advance in their education or employment career. Such advancement was made possible through the policies adopted by the Nationalist government.
The government had transformed the country over the past years. More factories and companies were investing in Malta. New roads had been constructed while a new hospital had been opened. The MCAST was giving a future to thousands of students while heavy investment was made to build or upgrade primary and secondary schools.
More positive results were achieved this month with the opening of the Credit Europe Bank while the first branch of the Banif Bank had opened in St Julian’s. It was also announced that the freeport will be investing e130 million in the next few years and will employ 500 more people.
GO had also announced that it will be investing in a submarine cable to facilitate communications with Italy, financial company 6pm had announced it will open premises in Gozo while work on SmartCity had continued. All this was possible because the government had invested in the country to provide a solid basis for more private investment
Dr Gonzi said the MLP was still led by the same people who tried to put spokes in the wheels of the freeport privatisation and that of GO, had spoken against the sale of Mid-Med Bank to HSBC and also against the SmartCity project. What the PN did showed confidence in the people, while what the MLP did showed the opposite.
Last year, a record number of tourists had come over to Malta. This was possible because the economy had been strengthened, the country’s finances are on solid ground and the government could introduce schemes to allow low-cost carriers to operate to and from Malta. More tourists mean more jobs in the industry, he commented.
The government had launched an offer to make internet more accessible and the MLP had called it a gimmick. He said on Saturday he was pleased to meet some of the people who had gone to Valletta to apply for the Blueskies initiative.
The MLP was the same party which had been against European Union membership, a position that would have deprived Malta of e855 million. It has still to make an apology for this, the Prime Minister said.