Work on a country road leading exclusively to a plot of land given to Mark Gaffarena proved the government was “more interested in helping out its friends than ordinary citizens”, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said yesterday.
Speaking during a brief interview on Radio 101, Dr Busuttil said the government was more than willing to solve Mr Gaffarena’s problems but had repeatedly ignored those of the average taxpayer.
“These days, to get something from the government it seems you have to be called Gaffarena,” he said.
Dr Busuttil was referring to a story in The Sunday Times of Malta yesterday on road works to a bumpy country lane leading to the plot of land given to Mr Gaffarena as part of a controversial €1.65 million expropriation deal.
The 400-metre stretch of road was covered in concrete in the weeks after he struck a deal with the government over the acquisition of a property he partly owned on Mint Street, Valletta.
Some 120 families living on the outskirts of Qormi, near the plot of land, did not benefit from the works, although many nearby roads remain in dire need of repair.
Turning to the proposed Malta Environment and Planning Authority demerger, Dr Busuttil said this would give the government a level of control over construction that had not been seen since the Mintoff government in the 1980s.
“We haven’t seen this level of control since Lorry Sant and Dom Mintoff’s days and everyone knows that Lorry Sant and Dom Mintoff were synonymous with widespread corruption when it came to construction,” he said.
The Opposition has repeatedly called on the government to postpone any parliamentary debate on the proposed demerger to allow time for the Bills to be reviewed more thoroughly.
Dr Busuttil said he was trying to give a voice to civil society and NGOs on the matter because the government was ignoring them. This, he said, was why the Opposition had chosen to extend a 10-minute parliamentary vote on the Bills by around six hours last week.
“We wanted to send out a message. We wanted people to stop and look at what is happening and we also wanted to send out a warning to the government that what it is doing is not OK,” he said.
Dr Busuttil also referred to another item in yesterday’s The Sunday Times of Malta about Chinese telecoms firm Huawei testing new 5G technology in Malta. He said that, while he encouraged good relations with China, these should be transparent and honest.
Wrapping up the interview by referring to the Greek crisis, Dr Busuttil said the government’s priority should be the national interest. This, he said, meant retaining a stable eurozone and ensuring Malta’s financial contributions to Greece were not lost.
“The government needs to think of stability above all else when it comes to Greece,” he said.