The opening of the new Parliament building was the first small step towards making Parliament an autonomous body, Nationalist MP Censu Galea said today.

Addressing Parliament in the debate on the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr Galea said this is a matter that has been discussed for several years, and was pushed by Speaker Anglu Farrugia and his predecessors. It is hoped that there will come a time when parliament will not continue to fall under a particular ministry, in this case the OPM.

Leaving the presidential palace and the launch of a television channel, which is now also available as a free-to-air- channel, have been important steps towards having more autonomy, but this is not enough, he said.

What often makes the news from Parliament is some argument or hot issue, but few realise that in its greatest majority all decisions are taken unanimously, with both sides of the House agreeing on the matters in hand, Mr Galea said.

He said that MPs should realise that they have the responsibility to work together for the benefit of the whole country. He understood that every five years each MP would like to be re-elected and so works for his own gain, but no MP should forget that he or she was elected to work for the country. “We are here temporarily, and we have a great responsibility towards those who elected us,” he said.

He said that civil servants who think that decisions taken by their superiors are tinged with some kind of irregularity they should ask for such orders to be given in writing. In this way they would be safeguarding their interests in case they are later accused of doing the wrong thing. If such an order is not in writing, they should then refuse.

Nationalist spokesman Toni Bezzina said that although the government speaks so much about bureaucracy, there are still situations in the agricultural and fishing sectors that still need to be seen to. There are situations which are giving people involved in the sector huge headaches since the government departments take too long to process their issues.

The Siggiewi civic centre issue is only the latest in a series of scandals that have rocked the government, with the government choosing its political interests over the interests of society as a whole, Nationalist spokesman Ryan Callus said.

Public property that should be enjoyed by the whole community is now being enjoyed by the Labour Party, he said. This is a government for the few, not for the whole country.

Mr Callus said that the government should revoke the agreement it reached with Bank of Valletta on the House of Four Winds because the wrong clause of the law was used for the accord. It should either issue a call for tenders or submit a parliamentary resolution for the matter to be debated in the House of Representatives.

He said that the Gaffarena scandal on Old Mint Street property would have remained hidden were it not for the Opposition.

Home ownership schemes were intended to help people whose residence is still not their own, Mr Callus said. But it seems the government is more committed to give €4.2 million to the owner of Café Premier or to buy property in Old Min Street than to see that such schemes are implemented.

Mr Callus said that not all submissions that were received on the separation of Mepa into two entities were published. This means that some proposals were kept hidden away, and this is a government that speaks of transparency, he said.

He said that the government had opted to include the Mriehel area as a locality where skyscrapers could be built. It then transpired that the owner of a land in the area is part of the consortium which is building the power station. This is shameful politics, he said, adding that the view of Mdina will be hindered when high-rise buildings are constructed in the Mriehel area.

He said that he had received reports that structural work was being carried out at Mepa offices while workers were working in the floor below. What about health and safety issues?, he asked.

There is so much mismanagement at Mepa that some workers last Monday were told to report to work three hours late because of some work that needed to be carried out, he said.