PN to hold national protest over cost-of-living, quality of life

The Nationalist Party (PN) will be organising a protest in Valletta next Sunday against the Labour government and the way it is handling the rising cost of living.

PN leader Bernard Grech announced the protest on Sunday (today) during a party activity. The protest would be held on 2 October at 3pm.

“Let’s make our voices heard together. Let’s show the government that we’re fed up of this situation. We can’t let them rob us of our quality of life. We can’t let them walk all over us,” he said.

Grech criticised government for its cost-cutting measures to subsidise rising energy costs. He said Prime Minister Robert Abela will be cutting funding for things like education, but still wasting money in other areas.

“He’s still spending and wasting millions, but they’re going to his friends. While he’s in New York on a 30-person delegation, with expenses over €140,000, you’re the one suffering.”

Grech said the environment should be a priority for government. “We often see photos of buildings that are not just ugly but jar with its environment.”

He said it was important for Gozo to have a state-of-the-art hospital with prompt health and emergency services, as well as proper investment in the island’s educational facilities and infrastructure.

Grech recalled a recent encounter at St Vincent De Paule care home. One patient came up to him and told him that he had been living at the care home for 14 years. “The bills would come regularly and I would just pay the meter bill. But now I received a bill of €120. All I have is the fixed meter and everything switched off, including the meter,” Grech said, quoting the patient.

“Is this where the minister plans on recovering money for energy subsidies?” Grech questioned.

Grech was speaking at the Nationalist Party’s concluding event for it’s series of activities celebrating Independence week.

MPs Chris Said and Alex Borg also spoke at the event.

Chris Said hit out at government’s decision to send a 30-person delegation to the UN assembly in New York. He remarked that, since Malta become an independent state, government would send around five people to such events.  

“When our government is trying to tighten the belt by cutting back on areas like education, it sends a delegation of 30 people at god knows what cost.”

He said Gozo deserves a regional council, and that this is the next step for the sister island so that it could reach Malta’s economic level.

He recalled a recent meeting with a Gozitan employer who was trying to hire some workers. The employer had told him that people reached out for interviews, but wages in Gozo are simply not competitive with those offered in Malta.

Alex Borg spoke about crime and security in Gozo. “Marsalform is gone. Xlendi isn’t what it used to be. But then when we talk, they carry out four raids as if they’re doing something about the issue, but eventually we go back to square one.”

He said everyone in Malta should act in line with the law, whether they are immigrants or locals. “No one is above the law.”