Over the past weeks, the Nationalist Party organised a series of events, which included celebrating Malta’s 44 years of independence, holding its annual political general council and annual general meeting for various sectional committees, as well as other “dialogue” events across the islands. The theme chosen this year was Flimkien B’Impenn Ghall-Gejjieni with discussions revolving around three pillars, the three Es: Employment, Education and the Environment.
When addressing one of the events, Prime Minister Gonzi said that the Nationalist Party has established itself as the party for employment, education and the environment. This might appear bizarre to those not accustomed to Maltese politics. They probably associate employment with Labour and the environment with the Greens, as they do in many other countries. Maltese political history has shown that a proactive Nationalist Party in government has outperformed others not only with what it managed to achieve in the past years but also with its vision for 2015.
When one speaks about employment, the results are clear across the board. As the Nationalist Party believes in the Maltese people and their abilities, it has always invested in human resources, which have overcome the challenges presented by a small economy. The timely decisions by the government to join the European Union and to adopt the euro have instilled a sense of trust in our economy, which in turn led to more investment (both foreign and domestic) and created many new employment opportunities.
Today, we can speak of a record number of full-time gainfully occupied people – 144,000 – an increase of 3,000 jobs over last year, of whom 2,000 are women. In the meantime, notwithstanding the turmoil in the manufacturing industry and international markets, unemployment decreased by 860. These results have been achieved by, among others, the widening of the tax bands, the opening of new child care centres, and incentives to encourage women to re-enter the workplace, policies the Nationalist government is committed to improve on during this legislature.
Besides the increase in employment, the Nationalist government can boast that at the same time the number of students who continued their studies after secondary school has risen in the past years. The party has made education the basis of its policy for the islands, the link for advancement in all other sectors. Therefore, a huge investment was made – in primary and secondary schools, in the building of a new system of colleges, the rebirth of MCAST, expansion of ITS, further investments in Junior College, higher secondary and university, new scholarship schemes, as well as the reintroduction of full stipends, as opposed to loan stipends. These are also given to students in all other post-secondary institutions. Additionally, the party’s manifesto clearly outlines that a large number of European Union funds have been allocated to education and specifically to the building of a new MCAST campus, more funds for the library at university and for the establishment of a new faculty specialising in ICT.
The advances that Malta has made economically in the past years have been acknowledged by all, including the European Union institutions that gave the green light for the adoption of the single European currency. Now is the time, as the Prime Minister mentioned, to adopt green policies and to make sure that further development on the island respects all principles of sustainable development. Although perhaps late in some areas, the last legislature saw the closing down of the Maghtab and Qortin dumps, the introduction of bring-in sites across the islands, the modernisation of the Sant’ Antnin plant, the recycle Tuesdays scheme, the closure of the Gozo incinerator, the opening of three bulk refuse centres, as well as incentives for citizens to invest in alternative energy systems such as solar water heating and photovoltaic equipment. However, Gonzi’s Nationalist Party did not stop there. During this legislature, e300 million of European Union funds will be directly allocated to the environment sector with the money being spent on the usage of alternative energy resources, more schemes to encourage people to switch to alternative energy, as well as the promotion of efficient energy usage. Additionally, the government is committed to reform Mepa, change the car registration tax system with a scheme based on the polluter pays principle and convert Gozo into an ecological island among various other projects.
The Nationalist Party’s 2015 vision moves boldly forward from all that had been proposed and achieved in the past. It is built around a fourth ‘E’ that the party in government is willing to adopt and achieve. It ventures into making Malta a centre of excellence in the Mediterranean and European region in six different areas; in these areas are the three main pillars: Employment, Education and Environment. In order for this vision to succeed, Vision 2015 must become the country’s vision and organisations such as local councils, NGOs, private firms and the public in general need to change their mindset and adopt a lifestyle that seeks excellence, a lifestyle which makes Vision 2015 the personal vision of each individual and organisation in the country.
Mr Engerer is a member of the MZPN executive, member of Sliema Sectional Committee and candidate for Sliema local council elections.
www.cyrusengerer.com