A new financial aid package is being drafted for those hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Sunday.
In an interview on the Labour Party’s ONE media arm, Abela said the government would be announcing the new financial aid in the coming weeks. He said measures were being drafted by himself and other Cabinet ministers.
"We know that there is fatigue and frustration. This has been a long marathon, but with the measures we have introduced and will continue to introduce we will ensure that everyone crosses the marathon's finishing line," he said.
Abela said the country was at a vital cross roads.
The next few weeks would determine whether or not Malta’s economy would benefit from a summer of tourism.
Malta, Abela warned, could not afford to miss out on the touristic big spend over the warm summer months.
“The weeks between April and June will be crucial. These weeks will define the future of the country. If we lose a summer of tourism, the whole country will suffer,” he said.
Abela said he empathised with those whose businesses were still closed, but urged them to be a little more patient.
The authorities, Abela said, had prioritised health, education, and elderly when drafting the initial easing of restrictive measures announced earlier this month.
On Monday schools will reopen, elective surgeries will resume at hospital and visits to homes for the elderly will once again be allowed.
The prime minister said he also understands sports lovers’ frustration at the ban on organised sports activities. “And you are right to be frustrated. But we simply cannot risk all the hard work we have done so far.”
Abela said the authorities were mapping out the way forward for more measures to be lifted in the coming weeks.
Enforcement until that point will remain strict, he said.
Abela said that in the face of a crippling pandemic, the government had continued striving forward with necessary reforms.
A long overdue redrafting of controversial rent laws was moving ahead and will start being debated in parliament next week.
This reform, he said, sought to put an end to unjust rent agreements that left land lords in the lurch. At the same time, it would not throw vulnerable tenants out onto the street, he said.
Libya is a land of opportunity
Abela also weighed in on his recent visit to Libya.
Last week Abela was among the first international leaders to visit Tripoli to hold talks with the new unity government.
He said he and Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Dbeibah had discussed the enormous potential for investment between the two countries.
Malta’s civil war-ravaged north African neighbour was now enjoying a new-found stability which was promising for future business opportunities.
Abela said he had also discussed the migration problem during his Tripoli visit.
Libya, he said, was just as much a victim of the migration crisis as Malta and Lampedusa.
Abela said he had discussed stemming the flow of migration into southern Libya as the best solution to the problem, along with a comprehensive EU policy of solidarity and burden sharing.