Almost a year into this administration, many people are starting to realise that they have definitely entrusted this country to the wrong hands. Even if not ready to embrace the PN, as yet, they still admit that Malta under this government is a far cry from what they had come to expect under the previous administration.

Many people I have met in the past few weeks have shown their concern that the Labour government seems unable to create new jobs despite all the talk of roadmaps and innovative ideas prior to the last general election. Of course, they did manage to create jobs – for their blue-eyed boys and girls who also include ministers’ spouses who are now on €13,000 a month.

At the end of the day, people start realising the truth when they start feeling the pinch. When the breadwinners in the family realise that, at the end of the month, it is they who have to pay their bills and not one of those who sold them all the lies a year ago. To make matters worse, this government’s incompetence in various sectors has lead to heftier bills. One example of this is the health sector, where medicine is always out of stock although people had been promised that the medicine they need would be delivered to their home.

Now, we have been told that Labour’s claim that the Delimara power station is a ‘cancer factory’ was another fat lie. This week we were informed that a study of air quality carried out by the University of the West of England showed that heavy fuel oil has not led to an increase in particular matter from the new Delimara power station turbines. This study also showed that there was no adverse effect on the air quality in the towns most concerned – Marsaxlokk and Birzebbuga.

Conversely, the residents of these and other surrounding towns and villages have now started realising the dangers of having such a huge storage of gas as is needed to fire up the new power station to be built in the area. When exponents of the Nationalist Party such as Tonio Fenech spoke in press conferences before the election, Labour tried to make them look like fools. And people were conditioned by Labour’s false propaganda because Joseph looked fresh and cool. Little did they realise that beneath that “freshness” and “coolness” there was the stagnant smell of lies and half-truths that would only surface too late in the day.

I am sure more masks will come down in the coming months. For example, I am eager to see people’s reactions to the supposedly lower water and electricity bills they should start receiving very soon, if Labour keeps its promises. Labour built its entire campaign on this issue so they should expect people’s expectations in this respect to be huge – and who can blame them? Let’s wait and see. For the sake of our people, I hope I am wrong.

People were also led to believe that through the IIP scheme Malta would become richer and flooded with people of great talent. So they are now expecting this scheme, for which all of us had and still have to pay a huge price, to make a marked difference in their lives and in our lives. My fear is that the biggest loser will be our democratic system, especially if the PN’s worst fears – that there is more than meets the eye in Labour’s partnership with Henley and Partners – are confirmed.

The same applies to Labour’s connections with China. I hope that, in an era of openness and transparency, the truth surfaces more quickly than it did 35 years ago, when Malta was supposed to gain its freedom but in actual fact had sold its soul to Gaddafi’s Libya. 

Charlo Bonnici is Shadow Minister for sustainable development, the environment and climate change