Prime Minister Robert Abela said Thursday he wants to see the courts working in a more efficient manner and in a friendlier way with their clients, which are the people.

Interviewed on One Radio, Abela spoke about the reforms carried out in the justice system, but said there is always more room for improvement.

The PM also spoke about the transfer of the American Univerisity of Malta from Zonqor in Marsascala to Smart City, after it failed to reach its targets. The government sticked to its pledge to return Zonqor to the public, he said. On the Opposition’s vote against the land transfer resolution, Abela said this showed that the PN has learned nothing, despite its biggest ever trashing at the polls.

He also spoke about Malta’s delisting from the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list. This came after Malta worked very hard to implement the recommendations issued by MoneyVal and the FATF’s own action plan. “We implemented these in the shortest time ever for any jurisdiction. This was not just an administrative measure but also a message of confidence in our country.”

The PM also noted that Malta had a strong economic growth of 10.4% last year, despite the effects of the pandemic. The European Commission recently revised Malta’s projections for this year, placing Malta at the top of the EU for economic growth.

He also spoke about Malta’s lower than average inflation rate and the subsidies the government is issuing on energy and fuels.

Turning to Air Malta, Abela said the national airline has neared a seat load factor of 100%, in contrast to struggline international airlines.

“We could always have been more efficient in the past and we are in discussions with airlines like Wizzair to ensure that we improve on where we could have been better. We must ensure that tourism remains a backbone of the economy,” he said.