Gozo case is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’, Muscat says

Labour leader Joseph Muscat has questioned why the PN failed to contact the authorities when a Gozitan whistleblower turned to the opposition seeking assistance over pending payments he had to receive.

Hitting out at the opposition over the Gozo free construction case, Muscat said the Nationalist Party had long known about the racket that went on involving Anthony Debono, the husband of the former Gozo minister.

An email which reached MaltaToday following a press conference held by the PN yesterday morning, showed Gozitan contractor turned whistleblower Joe Cauchi had turned to Chris Said listing some of what he called "works for votes" which he carried out before the election and for which he has not been paid.

The email was one of the many please the whistleblower has been making for payment for €500,000 in works commissioned by the Gozo ministry for private constituents.

"Why didn't Chris Said go to the police with this information?" Muscat said, adding that the whistleblower had not only spoken about works carried out at the Gharb school but also private works.

Addressing a political activity in Qormi, Muscat said the moment the whistleblower approached Gozo Minister Anton Refalo - in November 2014 - he had immediately contacted the police and an investigation kicked off.

"These cases are just the tip of the iceberg. And we are managing to see them thanks to the crucial legislation of the Whistleblowers Act and the removal of prescription from cases of political corruption," Muscat said.

Urging the electorate to vote for the Labour candidates, Muscat insisted that the polls should be "ignored" as the mid-term elections remained the "most difficult" for any government. Polls published by MaltaToday show Muscat leading Simon Busuttil by 15 points in trust barometer.

Describing Gozo as "a glorified elderly residence" in economic terms, Muscat said the government had created some 500 jobs on the sister island as opposed to the 18 jobs created under the last year of the previous administration.

He announced that a major movie production was coming to Gozo, details of which will be announced imminently.

He spoke of the planned foreign direct investments to make of Malta a medical hub and pharmaceutical centre, including a private investment at Smart City which will focus on the supply of specialised pharmaceutical products according to the patient's need.

"We will turn health services into another financial services where our students are guaranteed a quality job but we need more students to take this line of studies. The demand for healthcare professionals will increase drastically."

The Labour leader reminded that in two days' time, energy bills for businesses will go down while the reduction in bill for households has allowed consumers to live a better life. He reiterated that the effect of this reduction was tantamount to "seven years of positive budgets".

"I was extremely proud to see Malta the only country out of the EU28 not to face legal action by the European Commission," he said, referring to the members states' failure to transpose the Energy Efficiency Directive into national legislation.

Muscat said Malta currently had the lowest rate of the cost of living, the lowest rate of unemployment and one of the highest rates of job creation.

Describing himself as the "chief executive of a company called Malta", Muscat said he not only looked at Malta's achievements but was also concerned over those individuals who could not keep up. Referring to the latest statistics by the National Statistics Office, Muscat said the government's revenue was bigger than the expenditure: "We are reducing national debt by €45 million every month while the previous administration used to increase it by €100 million every month."

Arguing that there was nothing wrong in increasing debt if this translated into more services and aid to citizens, Muscat said the previous administration's increase in debt had come along with a delayed implementation of the income tax reduction pledge among other electoral promises.

Referring to the €35 ex-gratia payment as compensation for the miserly 58c cost of living increase, Muscat said some 225,000 benefitted from this bonus without burdening employers with any additional expenses.