PN will sue for return of €400 million paid out to Steward hospitals concession

Opposition leader Bernard Grech has announced the PN will be filing a court case intended at forcing the government’s hand in returning over €400 million paid out to the Steward hospitals’ concession, back into the State coffers.

Grech made the announcement at a PN fundraiser, together with predecessor Adrian Delia, whose seminal legal action to rescind the controversial concession led to its eventual termination.

“We will file this case to make sure that we return this money back in the coffers of the State, that belongs to our children and our people. Nobody appears ready to bit the bullet on this case, so it will be the PN to be this country’s shield,” Grech said.

At the end of the announcement, Adrian Delia presented a donation of €44,000 collected by his canvassers, to the PN.

In a discussion with PN youths throughout the course of the funding telethon, Grech said that the Labour administration had not identified ways in which low-income groups and vulnerable groups could be helped against the rising cost of living, and instead had resorted to “attacking Maltese businesses.”

“One of our solutions is a €40 million fund to help import and export businesses in a bid to prevent any impact on consumers through price rises.”

Grech also said that the annual COLA increase should not be taxed, while at the same time reminding his audience that the salary increase was ultimately borne by employers.

“The basis of our policymaking is our call for a quality economic model, that does away with the current model of cheap labour,” Grech said.

Grech said an example of this model would mean attracting high-spending tourists, rather than low spenders who had to be housed in more hotels or apartments, with a corresponding effect on Malta’s urban environment.