|
Labour in government would scrap the Qui-Si-Sana parking project, Alfred Sant announced yesterday.
Speaking in Sliema on the local elections campaign trail, Sant said a Labour government would “make sure that the Qui-Si-Sana project does not get done,” without elaborating on how he would reverse the project. He said the new traffic plan would create even more traffic congestion in the area.
Citing his customary local council statistics, the Labour leader slammed the Sliema Nationalist majority for implementing “just 55 per cent of their promises”. He said that to lay two water pipes in Rudolph Street the council spent Lm70,000 while Manwel Dimech Street had to be resurfaced three times.
Meanwhile, also in Sliema, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday addressed candidates for the same council elections, saying the electorate had to know EU membership had reaped its benefits: “You have to tell them the country is moving on, and that accession has offered us new opportunities,” Gonzi told candidates at the PN Sliema office, and a handful of pensioners present throughout the meeting.
“We have had concrete results… the roads, our air and water quality, our environment, the waste issue… these are issues which impact upon people’s lives.”
Once again, he referred to HSBC’s profits to make a point that the economy is doing well.
“Our commercial banks have made record profits in 2005,” Gonzi said, citing that the country got Lm13 million in taxation out of HSBC alone. Gonzi also said the country had experienced the lowest levels of unemployment since 2000, and that the Employment and Training Centre had managed to secure jobs for 400 redundancies from the Denim Services factory.
Gonzi praised his government’s initiative in attracting Dubai company Tecom with a Lm110 million investment to create an internet city at the Ricasoli industrial centre: “we were convinced our future was in IT,” Gonzi said. “I hope those who said we have disregarded the south, dumping our problems there, realise their words have rang hollow. The sectors we have to defend are those of the future… I hope people understand why education formed a pillar of our Budget, especially due to this investment, where we shall need a lot of IT graduates.
Even the Green Party yesterday gave its press conference in Sliema in its own headquarters, where it launched its local councils manifesto.
AD Chairman Harry Vassallo said Malta was “not a democracy”, castigating the two leading political parties for creating an “oligarchy” and dishing privileges to those who finance them.
“AD’s lack of historical ties to any villages and lack of political patronage will allow people to make a different and fresh choice.”
When asked about his reaction to the PN’s leaked election analysis report, which singles out AD as a possible threat to the Nationalists, Vassallo disdainfully replied: “this notion of us being a threat only demonstrates the siege mentality of the Nationalist Party and I cannot but feel sorry for them. After all, by contesting these elections we are only improving democracy in Malta.”
Vassallo did not bother delving into the nitty-gritty of their proposals for each local council, but instead vaguely outlined the scope of their campaign “Lehnek fil-Lokalita” (Your voice in the locality). AD’s councillors intend to create an emphasis on the Greens’ international values, especially the environment, and finding “a whole new meaning for these values on a local level.”
With a humble touch surprising for a politician, Vassallo admitted that most of the items that AD is proposing in their manifesto are not a surprise: sustainable development in each locality. “We believe in sustainable development. Instead of building new playing fields, we should clean up and sustain our existing ones. Too much of the taxpayer’s money is spent on repairing when it is nearly too late, rather than maintaining it in the proper condition. Unfortunately, we live in a country where we spend money on new projects so that the minister can cut the inaugurating ribbon – whilst neglecting the existing infrastructure.”
|
