Taxpayers are paying high fuel prices to make good for the €11 million EU funds lost on the Coast Road, shadow minister MEP Roberta Metsola said this afternoon.

Addressing a news conference at Baħar ic-Cagħaq, she blamed "government's incompetence" for the loss.

She added that, to date, the government had not found the courage to face the people and admit its own mistakes. The Labour administration had instead given three different versions of what happened in 24 hours in an attempt to keep the facts concealed from the independent media, she said.

On his part, Gozo shadow minister Chris Said said that by the government's own admission Malta had also lost €4.5 million on the Cittadella embellishment project due to the fact that the project had not been completed by the end of last year - the deadline imposed by the EU. 

He backed his claim referring to a recent parliamentary question in which the Gozo Minister had said that €10.5 million were spent on this€14.5 million project by the end of last year.

Dr Said also pointed out that the architect supervising the project, former Labour candidate Teddy Busuttil last September told a PBS reporter that the project would go over budget by 30 per cent. 

Did this mean that taxpayers would also have to foot the additional bill? he questioned. 

Asked about the possibility that PN leader Simon Busuttil would meet Gozo farmer Ganni Attard who failed in his appeal to overturn a court decision to prevent his sheep from being culled, Dr Said said that common sense should prevail, while ensuring that the law is observed.  

In a reaction, the Labour Party insisted that no funds had been lost and said this was confirmed by the European Commission.

This government, it said, was giving the people two projects promised by the Nationalist government for which it had been receiving funds since 2007 - the Coast Road and Cittadella projects.