People’s realities don’t reflect a surplus, Adrian Delia insists

Despite the so-called surplus, people’s situations reflects a different reality, Adrian Delia said.

In a very short interview on NET FM this morning, the Opposition leader said the government didn’t admit to any of its shortcomings, and it fell upon the Opposition to point them out.

Making reference to the World Bank Ease of Doing Business rankings, published this week, he said the statistics clearly showed that Malta was the most difficult place for foreigners to open a business in Malta.

“Figures show that we are in the bottom place in the EU when it comes to the ease for foreigners to open a business in Malta,” he said, “The consequence of this is that investors will look for alternative destinations, and won’t consider us.”

“This doesn’t make us happy - we want our country to advance. But this government doesn’t even admit its shortcomings, so the Opposition has to point this out, and to create an alternative [to this government] in the future.”

Delia said the government had now owned up that it was “stealing” from 80% of Maltese consumers through electricity bills which are higher than they should be.

“We have strived to help people to get their money back, and the government has now been forced to admit that there is a problem. But, instead of immediately solving the situation, it said it would address it next year,” Delia underscored, promising once again that a Nationalist government would “return to the people every cent they were overcharged”.

He also reiterated that Budget 2019 hadn’t made any headway in targeting the country’s problems.

“We have the fourth most polluted air in Europe, but the Prime Minister is not very concerned with this. The rate of respiratory illnesses in children is increasing, for instance,” he said.

“When it comes to the environment, I don’t think there is a single person in Malta who thinks there have been improvements in this area.”

Delia said the Prime Minister also didn’t acknowledge that basic amenities are now more costly. “The government claims that no taxes were created in the budget, when they in fact were instead introduced throughout the year.”

The government also didn’t do anything to repair the damage caused to the country’s reputation, Delia added in his closing comments.