Squandering of money has become a serious problem in the country, as endless reports of power and tax abuse by officials have been consistent throughout the years, PN candidate Joseph Grech said in a press conference on Wednesday.
The cliques and friends who are currently in charge of running the country gain money by abusing off the public’s taxes, while Maltese families continue to receive the mere €1.75 COLA per week, Grech said.
Former Education Minister Justyne Caruana is an example of this, following the abuse of power revealed by the Standards Commissioner George Hyzler, who found her guilty of having breached ethics when her ministry gave a €15,000 contract to former footballer Daniel Bogdanovic, also her friend.
In turn, upon Caruana’s forced resignation, the government could grant the minister €30,000 as a golden handshake, likely to avoid causing more trouble for the party, Grech said. This also comes after Prime Minister Robert Abela failed to remove her from her post himself, he added.
Another scandal which has been reigning the country is the Vitals Global Healthcare controversy, its contracts and moves being followed by the PN, as well as an official magisterial inquiry being carried out over it, said Grech. He added that according to the contract, VGH was due to pay a sum of €1,300,000 for expenses, which, not only did they not pay this sum, but rather the government did.
Minister Silvio Schembri had refused to publish information about the rent for offices for the Malta Business Registry, said Grech. Meanwhile, it was revealed that €2 million is being spent on renting these offices in a contract of 15 years, which at the end of it, the spending will have amounted to €30 million, for a staff of less than 140 people.
Grech also mentioned the revelation of the extra €2,300,000 spent on a €2,100,000 budget which the Correctional Services Agency signed a contract over to make upgrades in the security systems of the Corradino Correctional Facility. The government ended up paying a total of €4.5 million to the suppliers.
“The current PL government has no problems in recklessly spending taxpayer’s money without any form of responsibility,” remarked Grech.
PN candidate Joe Giglio emphasized that the money being spent is the public’s money. He added that this money should be entrusted to a government which focuses on the people’s best interests.
Giglio said that Maltese citizens could be living much more comfortable lives and avoid ending up on the brink of poverty. He mentioned that according to the Broadcasting Authority, the government spent €500,000 on propaganda for the recent Budget, which was spent illegally.