During the EY Conference on Malta’s Attractiveness Survey 2016, the Prime Minister said that economic sentiment was now 10% higher than when the current administration took power, with Malta on track to reach the EU’s average GDP per capita within 10 years instead of 40 years.
He also boasted of some of his Government’s achievements since 2013, ticking off lower energy tariffs, economic diversification and record employment/unemployment rates.
As regards energy tariffs I will immediately brush this off by saying that the Government has done nothing so far to attribute the reduction in energy tariffs to this administration. The reduction has been entirely the result of a more efficient BWSC plant saving Euro 50 million annually, substantial usage of the interconnector between Sicily and Malta at highly cheaper tariffs and the 65% reduction in the international price of fuel, a source which is being exploited by Enemed to realise greater profits at the expense of inflated prices at the fuel pumps. The Government, despite the promises of Joseph Muscat, did not even receive the Euro 30 million promised by Electrogas as an advance payment to finance the reduction in the tariffs. One must also highlight that, despite Joseph Muscat declaring publicly that he would resign if the new power station was not on stream by March 2015, the power station is still dormant.
It may also be pertinent to highlight recent statistics on the rate of emissions in the air which has reduced by around 47%, through the use of around 48% of the interconnector. In this respect, one must also mention the Government’s boasting and feasting on the closure of the Marsa Power Station. It was the Labour Government that had started operating this station with coal, and Marsa and the surrounding areas (roads, house roofs, and terraces) used to be heavily polluted with fine coal ash for a number of years to the detriment of the health of residents in the area who became heavily exposed to respiratory diseases, and also lung cancer.
I must also highlight that it was the Nationalist Government that had stopped the use of coal and that, during my tenure as Chairman of Enemalta, I had commissioned an investigation on the coal tenders which had always been awarded to the same Spanish company. The investigation had shown that there was a lot of smoke on suspected payment of commissions.
As regards economic diversification, the Prime Minister seems to be suffering from his own perception syndrome, probably seeing through reverse spectacles the economic foundations laid out by the PN Governments which have led and are still leading to the economic successes we have today.
The only attribute I can give to the Prime Minister on the economic successes is that he has acted as a good maintenance technician in oiling the momentum of the top-notch PN economic machine.
Unfortunately, there are as yet no specific active projects started by the present administration which one may mention, except for the secretive IIP Scheme which was not mentioned in the Labour electoral manifesto, and which is highly questionable from a transparency and security point of view and which is also being used to grant voting rights to the beneficiaries. We do not even have an idea as yet as to what is happening with the income from the scheme, although I would not be surprised that some of the funds are ending up in secret accounts/companies overseas as well as camouflaged donations to the Labour Party for its election campaign. I also do not exclude the probability that some of these funds will surface for the Government to usurp votes through the payment of all sorts of one off bonuses before the elections.
As regards the employment/unemployment successes, I must highlight that the substantial increase in the workforce and the resultant economic benefits through additional tax, social security, and other related multiplier effects like rental of properties and restaurant business are mainly attributed to the 8,800 persons, mainly expatriates, working directly or indirectly in the remote gaming sector and an estimated 10,000 persons working in the financial services sector.
In referring to the emphasis on the success in reducing unemployment, it is crucial to highlight the window dressing being adopted by the Government to misrepresent the related statistics. It is enough to mention the employment of 542 persons affiliated with the Labour Party, including officials of the party and its media, in positions of trust and/or as persons of trust, at abnormally high salaries and related perks, as well as the 600 long term unemployed persons which were struck off the unemployment register and placed on the public payroll as part of a ‘newly devised training scheme’ and being paid a minimum wage.
This situation is in addition to the increase in public sector employment from 41,010 in December 2012 to 44,790 in September 2016, an increase of 3,780 which would at an average salary of Euro 15,000 annually, equate to an additional annual government spending of Euro 46 million. This would have increased further in the last five months.
The end result of all this is that the Prime Minister is bluffing his way by saying that this is the first time that the unemployment rate has been reduced to below 4% and that this achievement meant that Malta was becoming ‘the best in Europe’.
Reducing the unemployed numbers by 600 from an estimated 3,600 to 3,000 brings down the unemployment rate from 4.2% to 3.5%.
I must conclude by referring to Alfred Sant’s recent warning to the Government: “Keep current spending under control or you could pay a bitter price”.
This bitter price is already happening and will continue to happen with the unscrupulous competition between Government ministers to employ hundreds more to buy not just votes for the Labour Party, but also for themselves personally.
The recent employment of 150 persons with the Water Services Corporation by Konrad Mizzi will itself cost the taxpayer Euro 2.2 million annually.
