The PN has a concrete plan for the environment, “not a plan for concrete”, PN leader Bernard Grech said on Sunday as he criticised Government’s tolerance of excessive construction.
The country has increasingly been at restless over the topic of environment, as criticism towards the construction sector and how it has swallowed the environment increased.
Grech said that the PN is trying to offer a solution for this. “The PN has been saying for years that our urban landscapes are losing their identity. We were noticing this, but the country was thinking that the economic progresses will increase our welfare; it didn’t,” he said. “We cannot continue nipping the last few open spaces.”
On the topic of energy, Grech said that the Prime Minister “knows that he is robbing you” but will not do anything about it.
“He has now confirmed that the Government will not give back the money which was stolen. But we are saying that we will reimburse them.”
The Opposition leader remarked that this is “only part of the robbery”, as he also stated that the Electrogas deal, amongst others, “robbed the country of €40 million”.
“We have the potential to bring back justice, give the money back, and to not allow any more stealing to take place,” he said.
Grech also addressed the recent EY survey, which showed that over 70% of youths see their future outside of Malta.
“This is worrying not only because the young adults and teenagers are criticising, but also most of them are not seeing any hope in this country. After years of the Labour Government, the country was supposed to go forward, but evidently it went backwards,” Grech remarked.
He said that teenagers are usually hopeful of change and full of dreams, but the majority of them do not see it happening in this country, so they prefer to leave.
“We have this challenge as an Opposition: to help these youths to understand that there is hope, but this cannot happen only with politicians. The PN alone can’t do it, there needs to be a coalition with the whole country, including youths, for this change to occur,” he noted. “We need to understand that with PR and slogans, you do not solve anything.”
The PN leader called on the youths to “come together with us and give hope to this country.”
On Konrad Mizzi’s ongoing saga with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), where the former Minister has been changing his status as to whether he should appear in front of the PAC or not, Grech said that the PL is still defending him and that even though he is now an independent candidate in parliament, he is still part of the PL faction.
“He is an integral part of them because they are afraid of him. What does he know? … Why do they keep defending him?” he questioned
“Konrad Mizzi entered politics only to steal,” he declared.
Grech also stated that “there is no good governance in this country”, and that the social partners – which he said he is in consultation with – know this as well. “They all give us proposals on good governance, so they know that something is wrong,” he said.
The Opposition leader also noted that the PN in Government will not depend on direct orders, but a fair tendering process. “The order of the day will be to have a good tendering process, direct orders will be an exception,” he stated.
There is no level playing field right now; some businesses do not even participate in the tendering process. This cannot continue to happen.
Finally, Grech criticised the “arrogance” of the PL, which was shown most recently in the Pjazza TV programme which aired on its TV station where a journalist (who was on duty) and a member of the church where criticised for being present at Repubblika’s protest.
“They are being arrogant with their power. But the citizens know that their power on the paper that they receive every five years is stronger than any politicians’ arrogance,” he said.
“We need to change this type of communication. I will not tolerate these attacks against the church and journalists. Let us not forget that we are all Maltese people, we shouldn’t let politics to break this,” he noted.