The PN on Wednesday slammed the government for including the Opposition's proposal on reducing food waste in its 2025 Budget after "wasting a year and a half".

Toni Bezzina and Ivan Bartolo told a press conference the PN had presented a bill in May 2023 to reduce food waste and waste generation. However, the government had shelved the proposal, they claimed.

"The Labour government neither cares about the most vulnerable, nor about the environment.

"Had this government had a social and environmental conscience, it would have acted quickly to discuss and adopt the bill... Instead, it chose to shelve the bill to then quietly include the measure in the recently announced budget."

Shadow minister for agriculture and fisheries Toni Bezzina and shadow minister for the fight against poverty Ivan Bartolo said the PN had already suggested donating unused food to those in need.

But the government "chose to waste a year and a half to the detriment of about 20% of the population at risk of poverty and social exclusion", they added.

At the same time, the government had missed an opportunity for the agricultural industry to redirect unsold agricultural products to those in need and organisations that assist them.

This would have allowed the agricultural sector to recover some of its financial challenges, they said.

They criticised the "supposedly socialist government" for increasingly showing it had lost its social soul and was disconnected from people's realities.

"We have a government that neither cares about the common good nor about those who work for the common good.

"Instead, it maintains a dated, parochial approach to Maltese politics. The PN believes in a different type of politics, one where proposals that improve people’s lives and help local industries, like agriculture, are promoted and advanced, rather than being left to gather dust, as this government is choosing to do.

"Although in politics agreement on everything is not always possible, the government’s disregard for the basics is a testament to a government without a soul," they added.