Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that the public should not take the country's success for granted. He said that the country's success comes at a price, and one of the major costs is traffic. "Traffic is just one of the problems caused by this success," he told the crowd which gathered in Balzan.
Speaking during a political activity this morning in Balzan, Joseph Muscat said that the 22,000 people more in the work force, contribute to the traffic congestion issue, and this is why success comes at a price.
He said economic growth in Malta, now, is the biggest it ever experienced. "Before the election, they told us that for us to be successful; you need to create 20,000 jobs. We already created 22,000 in the first three years. These are not merely numbers, but opportunities for everyone."
He said that recently, Simon Busuttil claimed that this success today is a result of the previous administration's success. "I told him, if you want to take merit of the success we have, you have to shoulder the merit for the problems as well. But we will shoulder the problems ourselves, and give merit to the people for the success we gain."
He said once again, Malta can celebrate its own success which was achieved thanks to the government, private sector, business and families.
He said that many take this success for granted, as if we always had free child care, low energy tariffs, or record tourism traffic and the out-of-stock medicine decreased to a new record low. "All of this is the result of what we managed to do in the last three years. Not in 30 years, but three. And I can assure you that this is just the beginning. We will go on for the coming years."
Referring to recent fatal traffic accidents, he said that a lot of families have seen the result of what happens when someone drives carelessly and costs the life of a person. "We want to send a message, that in a civilized society, we cannot close one eye to such careless attitude." Dr Muscat said that this is a government which takes the needed decision and said that the PL always had a roadmap in mind.
"Ironically, those who told us you cannot lower utility bills want the bills to be reduced further."
Referring to the arrival of the LNG tanker, he said that this marks an important step forward, because the use of heavy fuel oils and the cancer factory in Marsaxlokk will soon be closed completely.
He said this government will carry out the project for a pipeline between Malta and Italy. Dr Muscat said that the Opposition has no plan. He referred to Enemalta, with the Opposition claiming that the shareholding should not be given to the private, but at the same time, the PN wants to reduce the number of people working in the public sector. "The workers we added are teachers for your children and nurses to take care of the sick," he added.
Referring to the recent proposals made by the Opposition ahead of the budget, like the proposal to give medicines to the elderly for free. "We already do this, and we also deliver them for free."
"If we choose to take all of their proposals, still, the PN deputy leader already said that they will not be voting in favour of the government's budget. Does that mean that they will be voting against their own proposals?"
PM to launch independent investigation regarding allegations surrounding Dr Fenech Adami
He referred to a story which referred to Beppe Fenech Adami, claiming that investigations were halted when his named appeared. Dr Muscat said that this is a case which involved hundreds of thousands of euros, money laundering and drugs. "One of the owners of the company involved was Beppe Fenech Adami. When I see such a story, I have to be careful not to prejudice the case. I don't want to be political because I am a Prime Minister before I am the leader of a party. Later on today, I will launch an independent investigation to look into the matter." He said this investigation will be carried out by former judges.
PN reacts
The Nationalist Party, in a reaction, said that if the government wants to appoint an inquiry into the allegations made regarding Beppe Fenech Adami, then the Prime Minister should also order an investigation into the Libyan medical visas. The PN also mentioned the 7,000 visas given to Algerian nationals and the 14,000 residency permits to Libyan people.
"Above all, Dr Muscat should appoint an inquiry and determine how his two closest people in Castille hiding money in Panama. How is it that in three years the Prime Minister did nothing to look into these allegations?"