Sant 'cut off from reality'

Social Policy Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday accused Labour Party leader Alfred Sant of being cut off from reality when he proposed the setting up of a council for the protection of children's rights. This initiative, he pointed out, was already included in a bill published by the present government in January.

Dr Gonzi said the government in its bill (which could not be debated because the House has been dissolved) provided for the appointment of a commissioner for children with the power to investigate any breaches or infringements of children's rights. The bill also provided for the appointment of a commissioner responsible for the rights of children.

Another of Dr Sant's proposals which has exposed him as being out of touch from the present situation was his proposed initiative to put into effect a school bag policy.

He said he was surprised that Dr Sant was not aware that this government has already invested in research on this issue and has issued directives and guidelines to heads of schools to this effect.

Dr Gonzi also criticised proposals made by Dr Sant on women and children (see separate story) arguing that Dr Sant lacked credibility in both fields.

"I want to remind Dr Sant that when I took office as social policy minister in 1998 I found a government agency with no money to pay its social workers who work with children. This was the state of the Social Welfare Development Programme, now known as Agenzija Appogg."

Dr Gonzi said the agency employed 40 social workers in 1998. Today Agenzija Appogg employed 180 full-time qualified social workers. The annual budget of the agency during Dr Sant's term of office was Lm200,000. It is now four times higher.

On the women's sector, Dr Gonzi challenged former Labour government parliamentary secretary Helena Dalli to state which laws she had moved and seen enacted during the 22 months she was responsible for the sector.

The only initiative of the former government in this sector, Dr Gonzi insisted, was a shelter for battered women which was not appropriate for the needs of these persons and was found unoccupied when the Nationalist Party was elected.

Since then, Dr Gonzi said, the government invested in two new such shelters, which housed more than 200 women.

He also stressed that the government's policy of increasing the number of women in the labour market led to an increase of 10 per cent of gainfully occupied women over 1998.

Dr Gonzi also recalled how this government had enacted the gender equality act, stressing that this new legislation was a strong weapon against all forms of discrimination.