Bernard Grech has slammed the use of public money to fund film commissioner Johann Grech’s “ego trip”.
In an interview on NET FM, the opposition leader drew parallels between the waste of taxpayer money and Malta’s €10 billion national debt.
Grech said the government was basically using borrowed money to keep its inner circle happy, including people who worked on Labour’s election campaign.
The film commissioner, who was on Labour’s campaign team, hit the headlines this week after Times of Malta revealed how a 10-minute film he featured in cost more than €500,000.
According to industry sources, the film Once Upon a Time in Malta, employed around 130 crew members and was led by a foreign director.
On Saturday it was revealed that Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo has told Grech he should not have featured in a 10-minute short film.
The Opposition leader questioned why Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has not reacted to the film commissioner’s latest “scandal”.
“The country’s debt has reached €10 billion. The finance minister, the prime minister, and the entire government are responsible for this. The money being spent is borrowed money, which we are paying interest on. This is taxpayer money that is being burnt”.
Grech contrasted this spending with the situation at Mater Dei Hospital, where he said people are having to wait over 12 hours for care in the emergency department.
“This money could be invested in hospitals and education,” Grech said.
Instead of investing in healthcare, Grech said €6 million was spent by Steward Health Care on a €6 million campaign to “frame” ex-health minister Chris Fearne.
Steward was handed the running of three public hospitals in 2018, only for the deal to be annulled last year on fraud grounds. Senior officials, including Fearne, have been charged in connection with the deal.
Grech hit out at the government for trying to block the PN’s attempts to recoup the “€400 million” spent on the hospitals' deal.
On the government's push to pass a new bill for tougher building safety regulations before parliament's summer recess, Grech said the PN was willing to work throughout the summer to ensure people did not live in fear of their homes collapsing.