Delia says free school transport scheme is positive, but rushed

Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia has insisted that while the government’s free school transport scheme is positive, it had not given enough thought to how the proposal would be implemented.

Speaking during a telephone interview, Delia said that while the measure was commendable, it had also created problems for a number of families, indicating that its implementation had not been planned well enough.

“A number of students who had no problems before have ended up with no transport,” Delia said.

This, he said, had become characteristic of a government that only cares about sending a message to the public that results are being achieved.

“Government wanted to impress by offering free school transport but the lack of planning exposed the fact that this was just a vote catching exercise,” the PN leader added.

He said the government was not interested in people’s lives.

Turning to the country’s economy, which yesterday received more positive ratings by the rating agency Standard and Poor’s, Delia said though positive results were being achieved and people were spending more money, there were those who were facing a financial crisis.

Consumption, he said, did not necessarily mean a better standard of living, stressing that it needed to be ensured that all people had access to food, shelter and other basic needs. 

On domestic violence, the PN leader said that while the country’s laws were in place, more needed to be done to change people’s mentality.

Finally, Delia spoke about a new programme for youngsters to enter politics that was launched yesterday. He said that the PN wanted to ensure youths were given the skills necessary for theme to contribute constructive and to become future leaders.