Using economic growth as the most important yardstick by which progress is measured is simplistic and most of the times misleading, a Church commission said on Thursday.

In its proposals for Budget 2020, the Church’s Justice and Peace Commission said the fruits of economic progress should be enjoyed by all and no vulnerable groups should be left behind.

This did not only mean a proper re-distribution of the wealth generated but also an examination of the source of the wealth and the cost society had to bear.

“Ethics and sustainability are key in the measurement of progress and should be given their due weight in the decision-making process, it said.

In its document, the Commission adopted a wider definition of poverty to include vulnerable groups such as low-income earners, people suffering abuse and children and young adults forced to live in sub-optimal conditions. 

It said it believed that any measures introduced to assist such individuals should empower the beneficiary rather than create further dependencies. 

On housing, it welcomed the recently introduced equity sharing scheme and the White Paper “Renting as a Housing Alternative” but said more needed to be done in view of the consistent increase in rental prices that was leading to an ever greater number of ‘working poor’.

It proposed the introduction of a government mortgage guarantee and/or the deduction of loan interest from income tax as partial solutions that could be considered.

The commission said that a thorough study on homelessness in Malta needed to be commissioned. It called for more resources to support exiting shelter homes to help alleviate the burden on NGOs and the Church. 

The commission recommended the setting up of a legal aid agency and a system whereby child support contributions were passed on to a state agency, which would then forward them to the beneficiary family to mitigate commonplace litigations.

For youths falling through the educational system, the commission recommended that schemes such as that being launched by the government "My Journey: Achieving through different paths" were extended to older youths who left the education system prematurely. 

The Commission said it was is deeply concerned by the unfortunate choice of words used in the pre-budget document in relation to refugees and asylum seekers.

It reiterated its call for substantive investment to be made in the Initial Reception Centre and encouraged the government to find alternative accommodation options for asylum seekers being detained longer than required at the Initial Reception Centre and the Safi Barracks. 

Turning to the environment, it proposed free public transport during rush hours, safe and adequate infrastructure for alternative modes of transport, the avoidance of short term measures to reduce traffic, more green areas and the enforcement of regulations in terms of construction practices to minimise the dispersion of dust particles. 

The commission’s document can be read in the pdf link below.