Labour ‘can’t blame Gonzi’ for Air Malta woes, Bernard Grech says

Current problems in national airline Air Malta are the Labour Party’s fault, Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech said on Sunday.

Speaking on the Nationalist Party’s television station, Grech said that the Labour Party had no choice but to admit that the current issues facing the airline were brought on by the Labour administration.

“They had their own interests in mind, and they brought the airline to its knees. They are exclusively to blame, they can’t blame [former prime minister Lawrence] Gonzi, nor the period we were in power or opposition,  nor the conflict or pandemic.”

Earlier in the interview, Grech accused the Labour government of having a finger in the pie of every government contract.

“The government does not have a single contract that does not have a whiff of corruption,” he said.

He pointed out that the Marsa Junction project is being investigated by the EU’s anti-fraud office after data found on Yorgen Fenech’s mobile phone suggested corruption in the project.

Earlier this week Nationalist Party MPs wrote to the Permanent Commission Against Corruption to investigate corruption claims linked to the Marsa Junction project.

Nationalist MPs sitting on the Public Accounts Committee have also asked the National Audit Office to investigate the way the contract was issued.

Grech mentioned that property owners in Birżebbuġa were awarded €1 million in damages after they were coerced into signing a lease with government and eventually forced into housing the Labour Party club in the locality. “This is a clear scandal,” he said.

The PN leader recalled the well-attended national protest held by the party last Sunday. He said that people responded to their call-to-arms, and insisted that people should make their voices heard to ensure a better quality of life.