[WATCH] Adrian Delia: Malta is becoming a hub for drug and human trafficking

Leader of the Opposition Adrian Delia this morning accused the government of not prioritising the fight against criminality in Malta, despite growing concerns.

Addressing a political activity in Mosta this morning, Delia pointed out that this year’s budget only included “three lines” dedicated to criminality and how the government intended to handle it.

“Malta used to be the safest place in the world a few years ago, and today it is becoming the centre for drug trafficking, prostitution, and white slave trafficking,” Delia said.

While thanking the Malta Police Force and the officers involved in the latest incidents, Delia emphasised the government’s inaction in regards to combatting the rise in criminality in the country.

On the issue of education, which Delia believes to be the “foundation on which our future citizens are built,” the party leader also found the budget to be lacking. “This year’s budget mentioned three schools which were promised in last year’s budget,” Delia said. “Not to say that they were completed, but again promising that they will be built.”

He insisted there was an “unprecendented crisis” in the sector, adding that while the goverment was “arrogantly” giving the impression that it was heeding teachers’ concerns, it was in reality on pretending to do so.

Delia claimed that just as the government had abandoned the issue concerning teachers, it had also failed to adequately address the issue of transport.

“The people don’t care about the reasons why, but they do care about how long their commutes will be,” Delia said.

He added that while Malta was the smallest country in the European Union getting from one point to the other in a reasonable period of time had become challenging.

People, not numbers

The PN leader stressed that the Maltese people were not affected by numbers and figures, but by results.

“The problem with pensions is growing everyday as thousands of pensioners are being added every year,” Delia said. “Instead of discussing how the country will deal with the consequences of this issue in the future and instead of putting the public’s minds at rest, [the government] has added  €2 a week to pensioners’ paychecks.”

Delia also took issue with the fact that despite declaring a surplus in the budget, the government was asking homeowners to sell their property to financial institutions in exchange for a lump sum or monthly payments.

Finally, he accused the government of wrongfully claiming that the PN refused to join the waste-to-energy technical committee set up by the government. “The government ignored us,” he said. “It has refused to speak about this issue, and [the government] wants us to join a committee so that we can be part of the problem.”