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MaltaToday 30 October 2022

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NEWS 20 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 OCTOBER 2022 LAST Monday's Budget, while containing a number of positive measures, was a lost opportuni- ty, ADPD, the Green Party said. The greens said Budget 2023 had failed to project a long- term view of the necessary changes needed to address the country's upcoming challeng- es. "The Budget fails to offer a vision to mitigate the ever-in- creasing impact from climate change while the solution pre- sented to make up for the rising cost of living is a weak propo- sition that does not face up to the real problem," said chair- person Carmel Cacopardo. Standing in front of parlia- ment yesterday morning, AD- PD deputy chairperson Sandra Gauci said the government had adopted an outdated policy that makes people dependent on low wages and hand-outs, without addressing underlying problems. "Instead of updating the way in which the minimum wage, and cost-of-living ad- justment are worked out on a permanent basis, a special ben- efit to assist vulnerable persons was created." Cacopardo highlighted how the Budget speech failed to ad- dress climate change and its impact on the economy. "As an island state we are facing and will continue to face sig- nificant impacts as a result of climate change. The fact that the Budget almost completely ignored this issue means that the Minister of Finance does not yet understand the gravity of the situation." He said there was a lack of long-term vision on the im- pacts of climate change, in particular how this will affect our maritime and coastal infra- structure. "It is a Budget that does not have a long-term vi- sion with suitable plans to ad- dress the environmental and social challenges for a better quality of life for all, with bet- ter use of the limited resources of our country." Greens: budget does not address long-term challenges A police report was filed after a 21-year-old cyclist was "punched repeatedly" by a pick-up driver in Swieqi on Friday, according to NGO Rota. The cyclist was assaulted on Triq il-Keffa, with a witness saying the driver had been driv- ing extremely close to the man riding his bicycle. The pick-up driver "aligned himself" to the cyclist and the two got into a verbal argument. The driver then rammed the cyclist, forcing the cyclist to the ground. The driver then got out of his car and started to repeat- edly punch the 21-year-old. "A witness tried to separate the two with the person trav- elling by bike stumbling as he tried to get away. The aggres- sor, male, close to 40 in age, average height and stocky then tried to have another go at the cyclist," the NGO said. The cyclist then left the scene "disoriented and in a mess", ac- cording to the witness. A police report has been filed and police are now reviewing nearby CCTV cameras. Cyclist assaulted by pick-up driver in Swieqi

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