Simon Busuttil has come out against tall buildings at the Mrieħel industrial estate, which was identified as a high-rise zone last year.
The Opposition leader accused the Prime Minister of wanting to “steal” the picturesque view of Mdina by allowing towers at Mrieħel.
“Is this the way Joseph Muscat wants to show us that he respects the environment?”
Dr Busuttil was delivering the closing speech at the Nationalist Party’s general council held in Gozo on the theme ‘Sustainable Growth and Dignity for All’.
The Gasan Group wants to build two commercial towers at Mrieħel, which was one of six zones earmarked for high-rise development last year after a public consultation process.
Dr Busuttil announced the PN’s general assembly next month would focus on the environment, with the theme ‘Idea Ambjent’. “We need a political party to be the guardian of the environment,” he added.
In a speech that was largely a rehash of the Budget reaction he delivered in Parliament last week, Dr Busuttil insisted the Labour Party had reached the pits when even its deputy leader Toni Abela was awarded consultancies by different ministries.
Is this the way Joseph Muscat wants to show us that he respects the environment?
“This is significant because 25 years ago Toni Abela left the Labour Party because of corruption and now even he has a finger in the pie,” Dr Busuttil said, critical of the legal consultancies given to Dr Abela on oil exploration, transport and poverty.
Defending his criticism of government appointments of the family members of various Labour MPs, Dr Busuttil said the moment a relative was put on the public payroll he would be open to scrutiny.
The Opposition leader said the PN would be unveiling its economic vision in the coming weeks and again pledged he would present a package of good governance by year’s end.
Dr Busuttil also promised to remove criminal libel from the statute books in line with comments made by Magistrate Francesco Depasquale last week, when in a judgment he asked for criminal libel to be abolished.
“By removing criminal libel we will be strengthening freedom of speech,” the Opposition leader said, adding he wanted this to form part of the PN’s good governance package.
Dr Busuttil alleged corruption over the issuance of visas for Algerians coming to Malta, insisting they were using the island simply as a stepping stone to enter the EU, particularly France. He said this was a security concern and expected the government to take the necessary action.
He reiterated that a future PN government would buy electricity from the cheapest source and not be bound by any agreements the government has entered into with the Electrogas consortium that is building the new gas power station.
kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com