The Nationalist Party is using its presence in parliament to give a voice to environmental NGOs and citizens who are concerned BY the way the government is allowing Malta's countryside to be gobbled up, said PN leader Simon Busuttil.

Dr Busuttil was speaking on Radio 101 through a phone link before departing for a visit to China, where he is expected to have a long awaited meeting with government envoy Sai Mizzi.

Dr Busuttil said that the PN, and society in general, was not against sustainable development. "But we cannot have a situation where the last bits of our countryside are being swallowed up by development," he said.

He spoke about events in parliament last week where the opposition called for a division of votes on the MEPA demerger issue.  "We pushed the vote to 3am because we wanted to sound a warning to the government. The way things are done by this government are fundamentally wrong, in particular in relation to the number of scandals that have surfaced, as well as its treatment of the environment," said Dr Busuttil.

He said that the government does not like the fact that the PN is an effective opposition because, as a result, the government cannot do as it pleases. "The new laws proposed to demerge MEPA are being put forward for one simple reason, to give the government total power over planning and building," he said.

Dr Busuttil said that the last time Malta experienced such as scenario was in the days of Dom Mintoff and Lorry Sant. "I say this with a sense of responsibility and truthfully. Everyone knows that in the days of Mintoff and Sant, there was rampant corruption, and that is what we are heading towards once again," said Dr Busuttil.

Dr Busuttil said that the vote in parliament last week could have taken ten minutes. "But we called for a division on all the votes because we wanted to send a clear message to the government. There is something fundamentally wrong in the way they are doing things. We will use all the tools of democracy in parliament to face down the government," he said.

Gaffarena scandal

He also made reference to the Gaffarena scandal and reiterated his call for Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon to resign. "I do not know what Dr Falzon is waiting for to step aside. The €250,000 early retirement package he received from Bank of Valletta was nothing short of obscene. But not only that. He also retained the option to return to work for them in six years' time. Instead of doing the right thing and resigning, Dr Falzon returned to parliament and presented proposed legislation to destroy MEPA," he said.

Dr Busuttil returned to the Gaffarena scandal and said that he was given €500,000 and properties worth millions in return for expropriated property in Old Mint Street in Valletta. "This is barefaced nepotism. Dr Falzon knew Gaffarena well. He also went abroad with him. Now, we have found out that the government has resurfaced a road leading to one of his Qormi properties at the expense of the taxpayer and through EU funds," he said. He said that Dr Falzon sent an employee from his secretariat with Gaffarena to the Lands Department. "It is clear that he knew what was going on. And what did he do after all this? Dr Falzon signed off on the deal. This is shameful."

Dr Busuttil said it was the PN's duty to speak about such scandals. "We need to do more. I want to do things differently than this government's modus operandi. But I also want to do things differently from previous PN governments. We have to admit out mistakes and learn from them," he said.

Dr Busuttil said that he will build the PN on honesty. "That is the only way to regain people's trust. After all this filth that has come out, we need root and branch reform of our political system. We need proper standards established in regard to civil service appointments. We need to eliminate politics of favour that discriminate between people who believe in anything other than the Labour Party," said Dr Busuttil.

Greece

He also spoke about the events unfolding in Brussels where he said he could not quite believe what Greece had done. "Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras last week scheduled a referendum and urged people to vote against the bailout conditions proposed by Greece' creditors. Now he has returned to the negotiating table with reforms that are harsher than the ones originally put to the country. This is populist politics and is tantamount to deceiving the Greek people," concluded Dr Busuttil.