Lawrence Gonzi held hostage by Austin Gatt, says Opposition leader

According to Opposition leader Joseph Muscat, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is “held hostage” by Transport Minister Austin Gatt, every time Gonzi fails to speak out on the public transport reform fiasco or the delays in the Smart City project.

“It is shameful that the Prime Minister does not speak about such important things - which also highlight the incompetence of his government,” Muscat said.

Addressing a political activity in Mgarr, Muscat said the future of students who are currently studying information technology (IT) has been put in jeopardy.

“Just before the 2008 general elections, government promised students the creation of 5,000 jobs at Smart City. Government’s incompetence is now telling these students to look elsewhere.”

He reiterated that if the PL is trusted and elected in government, it would ensure that the Smart City project is completed and that jobs are secured.

Speaking on the difference between the PL and the Nationalist Party, Muscat said the two could not be more worlds apart than they are: “The main difference is that we keep the promises we make. The PN does not.”

Muscat said there is also a big difference in priorities and leadership skills: “Everyone is asking ‘where is government?’ It is absent from the problems faced by citizens every day. “

Describing the public transport reform as “the monument representing government’s lack of planning”, Muscat said the Maltese are paying the same price for an inferior service:

“At least, the public transport reform had provided the commuters with air-conditioned and comfortable buses, whose Euro 5 engine was safe for the environment. But because of its lack of planning, now government is adding buses which do not have air condition and with engines that pollute.”

He said that over  €50 million from taxpayers’ money had gone to the owners of the ATP buses because the buses were not up to European standards. “Inferior quality buses are now being added to the Arriva fleet,” he said.

The lack of government’s planning reminds us of the Bisazza Street fiasco that is another testimony of how government ministries do not communicate with each other, Muscat said.

“Our position is clear: next Friday we will be voting in favour of our motion to censure government on the failed reform. It is clear that government does not want to compensate the Maltese for what happened, even though millions were spent in the reform.”

Muscat said government is “happy spending money but is not interested in the results achieved.” He said government is not interested in asking back the €400,000 spent in consultancy, even though the interchange system failed.

Speaking on the economy, Muscat said a Labour government would give equal business opportunities to all, irrespective of their nationality and would not hinder their work with unnecessary red tape.

“We are on the side of businesses because we are the workers’ party. We firmly believe in the importance of state and private that go hand-in-hand with each other.”

Speaking on Malta’s debt, Muscat said that despite the different ratings to Malta given by three different credit rating agencies, they all agreed Malta’s debt had grown rapidly.

“Every day, we pay €550,000 interest expense on our debt. A Labour government would stop the growing debt and then would address measures to reduce it.”

He said that Lawrence Gonzi “is not competent” to lead Malta’s economy: “To really address the debt problem our economy needs to grow, we need to generate more jobs.”

Speaking on the pensions, Muscat said one of Labour’s solutions would be to increase maternity and paternal leave and give incentives to see more women joining the workforce.