‘Government hasn’t realised what the problem is’, Delia says

Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia lamented on Sunday that the government is yet to realise what the problem is after announcing a packet of economic measures to help businesses affected by the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Robert Abela announced a packet of economic measures which included the postponement of the payment of certain taxes such as VAT and social security contributions.

Delia said that hundreds have already lost their jobs and businesses had already gone bankrupt as a result of precautionary closures due to the outbreak, noting that incentives – such as paid quarantine leave – were needed for employers to keep their employees in work.

“The world is at war against an invisible enemy,” Delia began. He said that people must understand that there will be those who suffer, and even those who die as a result of this war.

Delia called for people to correctly identify the source of their information, noting that more people will suffer from ignorance and misinformation than of the virus itself. He called on the government to tell people the truth and explain the consequences that will be faced and what the country is doing so that the virus can be beaten as soon as possible and with the least number of casualties.

Delia said that from the first day, the Opposition had taken the clear position that “there is no partisan politics” when it comes to health issues such as these. He said that they had offered everything to the government, but that the government had, in the same breath of saying that the Opposition should cooperate, rejected their attempts to discuss how to fight the outbreak in Parliament.

“The Maltese parliament is the only one in the world which hasn’t discussed the virus in a structured manner,” Delia said.

He said that the government had not spoken to doctors working in the private sector, even those willing to provide assistance, and appealed for the government to use all the resources the country has.

He also appealed to the government to provide more protective measures for those who are risking their lives by having to bring cargo in from abroad, noting that “what the government is saying and doing is different.”

“Our preparation is not as good as it could have been, but we are in time to fix things so we are properly prepared,” Delia said.

“We need to recognise that there are weaknesses, and that there was a lack of preparation; and now we need to intervene in time,” he continued.

He questioned how the government can decide to close schools, a decision which the schools had taken before him, but then see children mixing at playgrounds and restaurants – creating more danger of contagion.

He said that more clarity was needed when it comes to the elderly, noting that they should be advised whether to go to hospital or not for appointments, while also calling for a system besides the Meals on Wheels to get food to them so they would avoid leaving the house.

Speaking about the financial measures revealed yesterday, he noted that these were described as “half-baked” and “not enough”, noting that it was becoming clear that the government has not even realized what the problem is.

He noted that the Opposition had proposed paid quarantine leave, but that the government had said that employers should pay it. “If they are going to close, how can they support their works? It’s a chain - if the government doesn’t understand how it will work, there will be big casualties,” he said.

Delia once again called for a lockdown and to close the country’s borders to prevent more imported cases being added to those which already exist.