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James Debono
For the fourth consecutive time the Malta Labour Party has been awarding high percentages to local councils with a Labour majority and low percentages to PN dominated localities. During the edition of ‘Int X’Tahseb?’ screened on 16 February Valletta Mayor, Dr Paul Borg Olivier described this exercise as a “gimmick” that is not based on reality. Ironically a few days later the Valletta council was awarded a low 55 per cent mark by the MLP.
MaltaToday has found that the MLP’s percentages on local councils with a Labour majority are backed by the evidence of detailed reports, but the evidence presented to justify the far lower percentages awarded to localities with a Nationalist majority is far less detailed.
MaltaToday contacted MLP media executive Mark Farrugia to ask him to explain how these percentages are arrived at. Mark Farrugia said the percentages are calculated on the amount of electoral promises implemented out of the total number of promises. “We have analysed the 2002 local elections manifesto for each locality we are contesting this year and we are calculating the number of promises that have been implemented during the past three years”.
MaltaToday asked the Malta Labour Party to explain how the Mellieha Local Council has been awarded a 95 per cent benchmark. The Malta Labour Party accepted MaltaToday’s challenge by sending an all-inclusive analysis of the electoral promises implemented by the Mellieha Local Council. This analysis is so comprehensive that it even includes details such as the installation of a one single swing for disabled children in the playing field and the provision of a story telling service for children in public gardens. According to the detailed analysis the MLP led council failed to implement only 3 proposals out of 54 proposals. This amounts to only 5.5 per cent of the MLP’s 2002 manifesto.
But does this mean that the council has implemented the remaining 94.5 per cent of proposals? That is definitely subject to interpretation. According to the MLP’s analysis the Mellieha Local Council has not delivered 8 (15 percent) out of its 54 proposals due to shortcomings on the part of the central government. One could argue that the MLP should have specified in its manifesto that some of its promises such as road works in Manikata and works on the Gnien il-Qieghan depended on cooperation from central government. The Council has yet to implement two other proposals in full. In the report one finds statements like: “the proposal on lighting the Mellieha stairs has been discussed, agreed on and will be implemented”. Four other statements on the implementation of four other promises were too vague. Those amount to 7.4 per cent of the total number of proposals. For example the MLP’s report states that Mellieha youths should participate in seminars on drug abuse organised on a national level. This is something, which happens in every town and village in Malta and has little to do with the work of the Local Council. The same applies to the unquantified “help” offered to clay pigeon shooters. According to an analysis by MaltaToday, after excluding proposals which have not been fully implemented, vague promises and promises that fell through due to a lack of cooperation on the part of the central government, the Council has implemented more than 70 percent of its electoral promises. Quite an impressive record for a local council, but a far cry from 95 per cent!
The first local council with a Nationalist majority to be given low grades by the MLP was the Valletta Local Council, which was awarded a 55 per cent benchmark. As soon as this claim was announced, MaltaToday asked the MLP to substantiate its claims on the Valletta Local Council.
After more than a week the MLP sent an analysis of the PN’s 2002 electoral manifesto on Valletta according to which the council implemented only 45-55 per cent of its promises. This analysis cannot be verified in the same way as the evidence presented to back claims on Mellieha. While the analysis on Mellieha is very sober, the one on Valletta starts with the words: “Before every elections the PN promises paradise on earth. After the election these promises are swept by the wind”.
In its analysis the MLP lambastes the council by giving concrete and verifiable examples of its failure to implement its promises in such matters as restoring pavements and roads, the embellishment of public gardens and waste collection. In a press release issued last week Valletta mayor Dr Borg Olivier had already denied some of the claims made in the MLP’s analysis. He denied, for example, the MLP’s claim that work has been carried out only on one road by giving figures of work carried out in eight roads. He also mentioned works in the lower and upper Valletta gardens to dispute the MLP’s claim that public gardens in the capital city are in a state of neglect. On the other hand he did not dispute most of the claims found in the MLP’s not so sober analysis.
jdebono@newsworksltd.com
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