Prime Minister Robert Abela has stressed that all employers must work within the limits of the law when asked about recent enforcement measures taken by authorities.

“Everyone has to understand that they have to work within the confines of the law,” Abela told former PBS news head Reno Bugeja during an interview at a Labour Party event in Birżebbuġa on Friday evening.

Abela was speaking a day after officials from four government entities converged on St George's Square in Victoria to order the removal of tables and chairs encroaching on public land.

Further action had to be taken again later the same day when police swooped on the square at around 11pm on Thursday after an establishment began to spread outside allotted area.

Standing by such measures, the Prime Minister said such enforcement would continue, stressing the law "allows for a business to be closed" in instances of repeated offences.

Turning to the issue of working conditions in the food delivery sector – which came to a head on Monday when some 345 couriers stopped delivering food to protest – Abela said such workers deserved to earn “dignified” wages.

He said Jobsplus was monitoring the sector and enforcement would continue, aligning with Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri’s comments to Times of Malta earlier this week that authorities would be watching food courier employers.

Abela reiterated that the government would continue to raise the minimum wage over the next few years, a deal that was formally signed with social partners back in October.

Echoing his words in May about plans to build a supermarket in Outside Development Zones (ODZ) land in San Ġwann – an application that was later withdrawn – the Prime Minister said applications in ODZ areas were a “non-starter”.

On the wider economic model, he said it was important to compare the country to 10 years ago, when he said economic growth had been “mediocre”, adding the government would “find the solutions the country needs.”

Last month, while emphasising that the economy had enjoyed “unprecedented” growth in recent years, he acknowledged this had put pressure on Malta’s infrastructure, acknowledging people wanted the government to move “at a quicker pace” towards a model that improves their quality of life.