Solidarity with Puttinu
O n Good Friday the Prime Minister donated €5 million, from the National Development and Social Fund, to Puttinu Cares for a project to build new apartments in central London. As the name implies, the Fund, which is fully funded by the citizenship by investment programme, was set up for such purposes. Puttinu Cares will, with these funds, be able to build some 30 apartments in central London for relatives of Maltese patients seeking treatment in the UK. The Government’s donation, which was added to the €1.6 million collected from the public, will surely make a real difference for the relatives of cancer patients whose accommodation expenses are not covered by our welfare state.
The majority welcomed this news and said that this initiative was a gesture of social awareness. Bjorn Formosa described the Prime Minister’s action as “all about humanity and about delivering help to those in need.” He continued to say that “the only important thing is that there are kids with cancer and families who will find adequate care and accommodation to deal with their immense suffering.”
As incredible as it may seem, the usual suspects decided to create controversy on this matter. Members of the Opposi- tion, this time with the assistance of Archbishop Scicluna, opted to belittle this noble act. The Archbishop even went as far as comparing the Government to organised crime such as the Mafia and Camorra. Their comments were so much out of tune with the general feeling of the people that many thought, or rather wished, these were fake posts. What amazes me is that certain people seem to have a problem with anything Labour does.
I, like many others, including Peppi Azzopardi and Rennie Zerafa, felt offended by these comments. Peppi Azzopardi himself felt the need to explain that it was himself who asked the Government to intervene and make the donation to Puttinu when he assumed that public donations would not be enough to cover the expenses of this ambitious project. He argued that donations from the same fund had already been given to several other charitable organisations since it was set up. Rennie Zerafa maintained that those who compared the Government to the Mafia were hurting patients and showed indifference.
To intimidate anything and everyone who works with this Government, including charitable organisations is typical of bullies. The self-proclaimed righteous are quick to act as judge and jury and point fingers. They do not know any better. They want to decide everyone’s place in society. Their arrogance derives from a contorted belief that they have a monopoly on morality. They relentlessly judge other people. There has been no single Government initiative which has not been met with negativity or labelled as cheap propaganda or a PR stunt by this minority. On the contrary, I believe the Government is duty-bound to be transparent in the way it spends taxpayers’ money. And even though the National Development Fund is not funded by our taxes, but by foreign wealthy individuals, it is in the public interest to know how it is managed.
The Government is correct to steer away from this negativity. Where the Opposition sees problems, we seek opportunities. No criticism should be holding us back from working for what we think is for the benefit of the many. The National Development Fund was set up specifically to contribute to major projects of national importance and to undertake initiatives for the benefit of future generations. The Fund is highly regulated to make sure no future administration misuses it. It is part of the legacy of wealth that this Government is building. Everyone remembers the crusade against the citizenship programme led by the PN. It went as far as trying to use the European institutions to block it. They ended with egg on their face when the EU Commission gave it’s the thumbs up and actually made it the first investment programme of its kind to be endorsed. The irony in all this is that the PN made a u-turn and proposed to retain the IIP in their electoral manifesto last year. It shows the dire situation the PN is in, if there was any need for further proof.
The Government always welcomes healthy criticism, and it has shown repeatedly that is ready to change its intended course if positively convinced. For instance, only this week, as the chair of the Parliamentary Committee for the Environment and Planning, I proposed to stop the planned expansion of the Bulebel industrial estate, reverse the decision taken by the PN in 2006 and revert the land back to ODZ. This proves that we do welcome genuine constructive criticism. But criticising just for the sake of being critical makes no sense. Most of us have become immune to this nonsensical approach by the Opposition, but not by the Archbishop. I believe that our religious leaders should refrain from letting their political sentiment overcome them. For them to ride on a divisive political narrative is mistaken. It casts serious doubt where this ought not to be.