The speech was well written and learnt by heart. The setting was impressive. The delivery was good. The substance was far from the truth. When I listened attentively to Dr Gonzi’s speech on the occasion of Independence Day, I thought I was living in some other country. Dr Gonzi dwelt at length on Malta’s membership of the EU and the imminent introduction of the Euro as the key solutions to Malta’s endemic problems. He wanted us to believe that we are not living in Malta but in some distant paradise where his magic charm had transformed an ailing economy into a prosperous melting pot of well-being and never-ending happiness. In an interview with ONE journalist Charlon Gouder, the PM dismissed even the faintest suspicion of maladministration and corruption. He assured the journalist that his ministers had nothing to do with corruption: they should be thanked for fighting it. No one in his senses would believe the PM. Corruption is rife: people have been found guilty of such crimes. We had one case after the other in a successive chain and not a single minister assumed responsibility and had the guts to resign. The PM showed astounding weakness in defending his cabinet comrades. His duty called for their resignations. Now he is asking for more time to implement his 2015 projects. At the same time we have learnt that Maltese workers saw the least hikes in their pay and have been taxed more than anyone else in the EU. Much of their taxes was recklessly spent on never-ending projects. The Prime Minister saw nothing wrong in extending the deadline for the Manwel Dimech Bridge completion because “the most important thing is that it is done well”. What an excellent score in project management! If contractors are given the Prime Minister’s confidence, then we should expect them to abide by contractual obligations. This translates into more burdens on the exchequer more frustrations in meeting closed roads, inhaling clouds of dust and wasting precious time in traffic jams. Who cares about the rest of us? Land lost When Maltacom was sold for a pittance, I was one of the few who criticised the sale. I also suspected that the sale was tied to the Smart City project. Later in the day we learnt that a huge tract of land costing over Lm10 million was also part of the deal. We were also told that the Government had a clause to take back the land but failed to do so, thereby losing the land through default. When Charles Mangion, MLP deputy leader, offered the Opposition’s assistance to recover the land, Minister Gatt responded with his usual sardonic mode. Since then we have heard nothing about the Lm10 million worth of land. I also criticised the way Maltacom’s workforce had been dealt with and the Ministry’s PRO launched a ferocious attack on me labelling me partisan and claiming I was not telling the truth. He assured the workers that their employment was guaranteed. Now GO’s (Maltacom’s) employees know who was telling the truth. Management is proceeding with its downsizing exercise. Employees are being “transferred” to a “pool” and utilised only on rare occasions. These workers are psychologically broken down. HR personnel and other highly qualified persons are being shown the yellow card: the red card will arrive soon in 2008. Tecom will no doubt be honouring the agreement contracted with the Government of Malta. It is understandable for a commercial enterprise to try hard to become cost effective. But the Government has failed Maltacom’s employees and their families. I urge Austin Gatt’s PRO to reprint his replies to my contributions so that GO’s employees would know who was telling the truth. Cost of living Simultaneously with the Prime Minister’s declaration that we are better off, my wife told me that the prices of commodities have soared in the past few days. A restaurateur recently confided in me his exasperation in fixing higher prices for his products. He told me that the price of tinned tuna has gone up; the price of wheat is unaffordable and water and electricity bills have gone sky high. Preceding the Euro entry the prices of commodities are already being rounded off upwards. No one would care if prices were rounded off when buying a car because a few euro centimes in one-off purchases would not make much difference. But a few euro centimes on commodities would affect the strength of one’s wage considerably. For many thousands of wage earners and small self-employed, the cost of living is becoming unbearable. At what cost? Prime Minister Gonzi has boasted of a reduction in deficit. I think it would be pertinent to remember who was the author of the successive deficits in our budget. A few months before Labour took over in 1996, Nationalist Finance Minister John Dalli warned his government that the country’s deficit had become unsustainable. Then followed a quick election. No one in his right senses would believe Nationalist propaganda that in its few months in government Labour could have amassed a record deficit. Labour found government finances in shambles. Successive Nationalist governments continued to exacerbate the problem. When the EU established criteria for deficit reduction, the Gonzi government had to act. But at what cost? Our assets were sold for cheap, wages were frozen, taxes were more “efficiently” collected and each and everyone of us saw his/her standard of living plummeting. Yes, the deficit has gone down but the government has really given us a real hiding in the process.