Opposition Leader Alfred Sant yesterday announced that a Labour government will offer new incentives that will help boost small businesses and the self-employed, including an underground carpark in Hamrun.
During a visit to the Hamrun commercial sector, Dr Sant said that reducing red tape and fees that retailers have to pay will be at the forefront of their proposals. These measures, he added, will be implemented with the collaboration of the constituted bodies such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Industries.
He was accompanied by MLP president Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, secretary general Jason Micallef, deputy leaders Charles Mangion and Michael Falzon and Labour MPs Marie Louise Colerio and Jose Herrera.
Another proposal he put forward is to allocate sites to self-employed to establish their businesses and using the ground rent as a bank guarantee.
“A substantial venture capital fund will be set up to help new businesses,” said Dr Sant.
Various Hamrun residents stopped to speak to the opposition leader, some of them wearing their bedroom slippers, while he wove in and out of retail outlets. Many people had small stickers depicting a pair of hands under running water with the slogan Wash Your Hands Off (sic) PN.
In his comments to the press, Dr Sant explained that he visited the Hamrun commercial sector because he wanted to remain close to the people and the commercial sector.
“The visit had a threefold-aim: to gauge the impact of the present state of the economy on retailers, to put forward our proposals to the self-employed and discuss the concrete proposals for the area’s development,” he said.
The opposition leader said that the present bad governance has allowed this sector to fall into a state of neglect through its passive stance.
“While speaking to the retailers, they confirmed that sales are not good and that their investment is not giving them any return,” said Dr Sant.
There is a high level of discouragement and yet the government keeps on saying that everything is fine – it is doing nothing to improve the sector, he pointed out.
Dr Sant mentioned the Ta’ Qali crafts village project – something that should have been started around 20 years ago and yet nothing was done.
“The crafts village is a symbol of this government’s bad governance,” he said.
However, Dr Sant explained that the country’s economy needs to have an annual growth rate of around four to six per cent for the party’s proposals to work properly.
“Assets which have not been used or are not being used properly will be put to good use under a Labour government – for example retail zones which have been abandoned and are now in a state of neglect will be restored,” he said.
Furthermore, said Dr Sant, reducing the surcharge by half will give more purchasing power to families.
The opposition leader also said that the final preparations are underway to start the project of an underground car park in a central area in Hamrun.
“Along with the Labour local council, we will solve the problem of parking in Hamrun – to the advantage of the residents and consumers,” he said.
However, Dr Sant refused to reply to any questions about the involvement of Michael Woods in the Labour Party – with a direct reference to when he was given a warm welcome before he delivered his speech at the MLP general conference.
Journalist Lou Bondi presented Dr Sant with a document signed by the police that stated that Mr Woods’ brother, Thomas Woods, had been mentioned several times in a currently ongoing case of corruption that is being heard in court. However, Dr Sant refused to reply to any questions concerning Mr Woods and stated that he had already replied to these questions during a press conference held the day before on the steps of Castille and, as a result, had nothing more to say.
During the press conference held in front of Castille, Dr Sant replied to a question about Mr (Michael) Woods’ involvement in the Labour general conference and stated that Mr Woods had chosen to side with the Labour party and that there was nothing wrong with that.