Improving quality of life for all
● Exposing webs of corruption
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat promised that the hard work undertaken by the government over the past two years will be strongly felt in the upcoming year.
“We will take care of you and be closer to you than ever before,” he said.
In his New Year’s Eve video message, Dr Muscat praised the economic performance of the country as a result of sound decision making. Rather than discussing figures, Dr Muscat spoke of real experiences people have shared with him, and promised that improvements will continue to be made.
He added that the government will continue to work at the current upbeat pace in order to continue to improve the lives of the Maltese and Gozitan population.
Prime Minister Muscat spoke about exposing “webs of corruption” within government institutions, and pledged to fight for more transparency and fairness.
“Some of these webs have been allowed to grow within government institutions for years on end,” he said.
“This government will improve the procedure through which visas and residence permits are issued, and carry out reforms at the Lands Department – whose role should be to protect the limited land in his country.”
2015 saw a large number of political scandals under the Labour government, such as the expropriation of half a Valletta palazzo at Old Mint Street from Mark Gaffarena, and the racket discovered to be taking place at Identity Malta in the issuance of residence permits to Libyan nationals.
In addition to this, the unpleasant discovery that the government had sanctioned development on ODZ land for the ‘American University of Malta’ and the Algerian visa scandal, where it was found that the Maltese consulate in Algeria had issued an unprecedented amount of visas over the last year and a half have eroded the levels of trust the public places in the government.
Turning to the controversial AUM project in Żonqor, Dr Muscat hailed it as “the greatest sustainable investment that the south of Malta has ever seen.” That being said, the project will take up 18,000 square metres of extremely precious, scarce and virgin ODZ land.
Dr Muscat made reference to Air Malta, stating that it will be a crucial year for the company. In recent weeks he said that it will be treated similarly to Enemalta, meaning that a strategic partner will be chosen to purchase a stake in the company, providing opportunities for improvement through investment.
In his message, he again referred to “strategic investment” which will transform it from a company running at a loss into a national airline which Malta can be proud of.
Moving on to the hotly debated LNG power station in Delimara, Dr Muscat said that it will be completed in 2016. He also said that work will commence on the maritime hub in Marsa and the €200 million investment in three hospitals.
Dr Muscat said that there will be a “large jump in Malta’s air quality.” This is possible through the completion of the Delimara power station, which marks the end of using “heavy fuel oils” in Malta, he said.
Dr Muscat also spoke about the state of Malta’s environment, promising to protect and safeguard it. He said that this will be done through the MEPA demerger that will establish a separate government authority that will focus specifically on the environment.