'The damage has been done'

Even if the perfect solution was found to the water and electricity tariffs problem, the damage which had already been done to the country was enormous, opposition leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday.

Speaking during the budget debate, Dr Muscat said that a lot of uncertainty had been created and the government was not at all bothered at introducing backdated bills. So for the past month, people did not know what water and electricity were costing them.

The country, Dr Muscat said, needed good leadership and a new direction. The people were better than those who were leading them. They wanted the country to progress and the opposition's duty was to propose alternatives, as he had done during his reply to the Prime Minister's budget address.

He said that if what had taken place in the country over the past days was theatrics, the Prime Minister had to respond to these theatrics because the people had spoken.

Earlier, in a strongly-worded speech, Dr Muscat replied to Communications Minister Austin Gatt's speech last Tuesday.

He said this minister was the same one who insulted several members of the opposition by calling them names and betted that 850 people would end up without a job. He was the same minister who said that the government had gone ahead with the sale of Maltacom because it had a majority of five MPs. This, Dr Muscat said, was no longer the case and the minister could no longer do what he wanted.

Dr Gatt, Dr Muscat said, was also the same minister who had threatened a cameraman who had the necessary permits to film, who described the MCESD as a talking shop, and who admitted that he had lied when, after the 1996 election, he wrote that for more than 14 hours he had to lie to party people at Ta' Qali.

Dr Gatt was the minister under whom all chairmen of boards, authorities and corporations resigned or left. He symbolised arrogance and whatever a government should not be, he symbolised a party in its worst form, a party whom the Court had just found guilty of lying against MP Silvio Parnis in an orchestrated campaign against him.

The PN, Dr Muscat said, attacked those who had the courage to make their own interpretation of a situation, such as economist Edward Scicluna and helped those who lied even about a campaign to aid children sick with cancer. "Those who did not speak out when they had the duty to do so, were accomplices".

In spite of all these attacks, the MLP would remain a positive party.

Dr Muscat said that because the government did not find anything to argue against in the MLP's analysis of the budget, it attacked the messenger. Under parliamentary privilege, the minister exposed a private citizen. But the person referred to last Tuesday was not the author of the report mentioned by the minister.

This person had been accused of having access to confidential, unpublished information and that he passed this information on to the opposition. Dr Muscat insisted this was not the case. The opposition had never received such information and the person named did not have access to the said data. In a turn of a vindictive government, the minister was lying.

Dr Muscat warned Dr Gatt and the Prime Minister that this was political intimidation. The MLP, he said, would defend the people's right of affiliation. "To touch just one citizen, you have to trample over us and, trample over us you will not!" he said.

The opposition leader added that he was willing to give evidence in court and also in the streets.

On the Mittsgate, Dr Muscat said that twice over, the minister had refused the resignation of the members of the board of directors, the people responsible at Mitts. So now he had double responsibility.

There was no assurance that e-mails, including those belonging to MPs, were not tampered with.

An inquiry was definitely required. This, Dr Muscat said, was a grievous case for democracy and could and would not be forgotten.

He said that the PN was spying on the people and this was not a customer care issue. It was a strategy issue and when faced with it, a doctored reply was sent from the OPM. The Prime Minister, he said, should publish all the correspondence from the original letter to the letter published in newspapers.

He called for the appointment of a Data Protection Commissioner pointing out that when asked questions recently, data protection personnel said that as the commissioner had died, no one could say anything.

This meant that there was no system protecting data at the moment. The Prime Minister, he said, was duty bound to consult him on a new commissioner. Addressing directly Dr Gonzi, Dr Muscat said, "Let's appoint him today before tomorrow." However, the opposition would not accept political appointments for this role. The person appointed had to enjoy the confidence of both sides of House.

Marie Louise Coleiro Preca (MLP) welcomed the allocation of €3.5 million to the tourism sector and the €120 million for capital projects over the next four years.

She had expected an updated strategy plan, but no one knew whether there was a new strategy, whether the previous one would be used or they would keep up the fire-fighting strategy, of dealing with things as they arose.

The government would be investing in air routes to Malta. What would happen when the government was no longer allowed to subsidise low-cost airlines, as it was against EU rules? Air Malta should not be left to ride the waves alone. It had not only created job opportunities and carried many Maltese patients for treatment abroad, but its workers had accepted worsened working conditions without pay rises.

It was important that the government ensured the MTA did not spend all its funds in the first six months, as it had previously done. The tourism winter blues were not a result of the crisis, but of a lack of advertising. There had to be careful planning for market research as €1.5 million were not enough. Had MediaConsulta, which had been allocated €411,000 for marketing last year, been appointed again? Why had marketing funds for the MTA gone down since 2006, considering its important role in attracting tourists? She asked what had become of the €10 million for marketing meant to come from the EU.

Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco had said value for money was a responsibility shared between the government, the trade and the private sector, to give Malta a competitive edge.

Ms Coleiro Preca said that burdens, such as the excise duty on fuel and the tax on swimming pools, showed that the government could not have done proper economic and social impact assessments. The situation is exacerbated by the 50 cent tax on every night spent in hotels. And this when pricewise, Malta was already in the 11th place in the World Forum Report.

Turning to the product, Ms Coleiro Preca said primarily investment in restoration of heritage and beach maintenance was done for the citizens. These projects had been promised year in year out, so if the government had given time frames or mentioned actual projects they might have been more credible. They had also ignored some important touristic areas, such as Marsaxlokk, which was considered a tourist attraction in the Economic Survey, and Bugibba. Nothing had been said about maintenance.

Last week more than half a million passengers had visited Malta on a day trip, which was brilliant publicity. Unfortunately these encountered many problems, such as queues to get into St John's Museum, or being let in through a small staircase rather than one of the main entrances of the Palace.

There was no need for millions of euros for marketing; a good product was the best form of publicity. There should be events to interest visiting tourists, but no funds had been allocated. Nothing was said about a policy for agro-tourism, or twinning town tourism, or sanctuary zones to attract those who were interested in diving, or improving local feasts.

Had new trends been catered for in the tourism sector? Was Malta attempting to attract the tourists who went online?

There had to be better bus services and signage for the tourist leaving the airport.

Opposition spokesman on defence, Joe Debono Grech, said the work of the armed forces is not recognised.

The government was not aware that these worked under a threat to their safety.

Two officers should have been appointed in the Detention Centres. Those who worked with illegal immigrants were dedicated people and they should not treated in this manner.

While the majority of the armed forces personnel give good service, there were those who think they can do whatever they want, as if they were backed by Castille. Mr Debono Grech also referred to army captains taking posts in Brussels.

He asked how could one let the MIA be allowed to draw in a private contractor to carry out security services. Airport Security, he insisted should be in the hands of the armed forces.

He hoped that promotions would go to people who gave good service as there were personnel who lost three or four years of promotion. Certain officers were told they did not enjoy trust, even though they had 20 years' service. Mr Debono Grech said the MLP in government would improve the situation. Many officers and men in the army were demoralized.

In his maiden speech, Labour MP Gino Cauchi said the opposition was constructive in its criticism praising the good and proposing changes for what was bad. Unfortunately, many of the points raised were not even answered by the government.

He pointed out that the water and electricity tariffs, as well as gas, the cost of which was also expected to go up, were not mentioned in the budget. The increase was announced before the budget and the impact of the increases was not taken into account. So how could the budget be considered realistic?

With the way it had handled this case, the government created an uncertainty which had been going on for weeks. He appealed to the Prime Minister to act in the national interest and withdraw the tariffs.

Turning to information, he said that the DOI had been turned into a propaganda machine. When information was requested, journalists were asked to write to the minister. He hoped that Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said would bring about the desired changes to this department.