‘Government has no plan to fix the problems it creates'

Opposition Leader Adrian Delia heavily criticised the government in a short radio interview on the Nationalist Party’s NET FM yesterday, arguing that the it had no plan to fix the problems which it had created.

He said that the government refused to admit there were problems, even though this was very clear to everyone else, choosing instead to focus on its ‘surplus’ mantra. “People are seeing things differently.”

He said that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat believed that, compared to other countries, the problems were minor. Delia, however, pointed out an increase in respiratory issues and the number of inhalers being bought, highlighting air pollution in Malta. “The government is neither acknowledging nor trying to solve this problem.”

He also said that while the government spoke of improving the environment, “everyone knows that government did not do well in this sector.”

He said the latest budget had no vision, and that the government was not trying to fix the problems that it had created itself.

Referring to a recent World Bank report, Delia highlighted the difficulties faced by foreign businesses seeking to set up shop in Malta. He criticised bureaucracy, saying that such surveys take a number of things into consideration. Delia explained that the measurements and scales used in such surveys were the same for all countries. “We did not rank in the middle of the table, we came last. The government must recognise that when it comes to foreigners opening businesses in Malta, we are the worst in Europe.”

He said that these difficulties were likely to put off potential investors . “This shows that the government has failed. This government doesn’t even admit when there is a problem.”

Turning to the issue of energy bills which are higher than they ought to be, he said that the prime minister had admitted that the government was stealing from the people. He said that people had spoken to the Opposition about the high energy bills.

He said that the PN had managed to help a number of people claim their refunds. “Finally, the government woke up and admitted, since they can’t really hide from it, and said they wil fix the situation... Now they will wait a year and then fix it. There is no guarantee that the people who lost money will be given their funds back. Every cent stolen from the people would be given back by a PN government.”