Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1495665
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 MARCH 2023 9 INTERVIEW Abela's politics of compromise cession itself and imposed its own conditions, which puts us in a better position to sue the company if it results they mis- spent taxpayer money. More importantly, this latest move meant the hospitals were im- mediately back in govern- ment's possession. But why act tough now and not three years ago when it was evident that Steward failed to deliver on a new Gozo hospi- tal and the refurbishment of St Luke's? Three years ago, we acted by saying no to any changes in the hospitals concession agree- ment. Now was the moment to take such a decision [ter- minating the contract] after the court delivered its judg- ment and more so after the unilateral decision Steward took to terminate the conces- sion. Steward clearly showed it wanted the €100 million [pay-off] and so now was the appropriate time to take that decision… I have to look at the way forward. In August 2019, Konrad Mizzi had agreed with Steward that even if the court terminated the concession, the govern- ment would be obliged to pay them a termination benefit of €100 million. Former prime minister Joseph Muscat has said that this side agreement, like all other arrangements with Steward, was discussed and decided upon in Cabinet. Former minister Evarist Barto- lo has said it is not right to use Cabinet as a 'smokescreen'. In his testimony in the Steward case, Chris Fearne said things were being done behind his back by Konrad Mizzi. You were in that Cabinet as a con- sultant to the prime minister. Somebody is lying here. Was the €100 million side agree- ment discussed and decided upon in Cabinet? The first time I saw that con- tract [side agreement] was after it was signed… Howev- er, let us assume the appeals court changes the original ruling [that annulled the con- cession], we have legal ad- vice that says despite the side agreement, government has a strong case to contest paying the €100 million. We will de- fend the people's interest and never take a position that fa- vours Steward. Am I understanding correct- ly that what was signed, was not necessarily what was dis- cussed in Cabinet? I reiterate that I only saw that contract for the first time after it was signed. So, you did not see it in Cabi- net. My reply is clear enough. One of the things that still has to happen is the conclusion of the magisterial inquiry into the hospitals contract. Poten- tially, this inquiry can recom- mend criminal action be taken against several people. If the inquiry recommends crim- inal action against Konrad Mizzi and Joseph Muscat, you will have a political problem on your hands. How will you convince the Labour grass- roots to remain calm? Neither government, nor the Prime Minister, have a role in the magisterial inquiry or po- tential action on its conclu- sions. This is why we have the separation of powers… I am talking to you about the political problem. You are trying to anticipate a situation that is hypothet- ical. The consistent message that I have always sent is that we respect the decisions of the institutions, which in a dem- ocratic country have to be al- lowed to do their job. I expect our institutions to carry out their evaluations and inves- tigations in a just way so that the recommendations are im- plemented… Our supporters have matured, as has all the country… I believe in the inde- pendence of our institutions... You had a relatively comforta- ble and privileged upbringing and you're not exactly poor. There is nothing wrong with this but people do ask how a person like you can under- stand the troubles of workers who try and make ends meet every month. How do you react to such a sentiment? I understand the pain and challenges people go through by being with them every day. Every day I meet people with some of the biggest challenges in society… I often visit people unannounced at their home and sit down with them over a coffee… they are learning experiences for me… Before I entered public life, I was a village lawyer from Qormi where I came face to face with many personal experiences; it was like a university of the streets. I encountered expe- riences of people with issues that to my mind would be mi- nor but to them would repre- sent an important part of their life. These experiences taught me to remain grounded when dealing with the problems of others... I am against sending prostitutes to prison because through my work as a lawyer I came across countless sto- ries of women who had been involved in prostitution since the age of 12 and who know no better. Women who would have been exposed to drug abuse and ended up in prison not knowing who will care for their child. These are the real experiences that I've learned from… [they] help to inform policy-making to ensure posi- tive changes to people's lives. Despite the almost €1 billion in subsidies on energy and fuels, the cost of living, especially food, remains a big burden for middle income families just as it is for low income earners. What is your government do- ing to help families? Without these subsidies, the inflation rate would have been among the highest in the EU unlike it is now among the lowest… But despite this hefty support, we have rising prices, particularly in food- stuffs that are hitting people badly. God, forbid we remain indifferent to this reality. We supported people last year by issuing a cheque and others accused us of buying votes. And in the last budget we de- cided to introduce a new cost of living mechanism to sup- port people on low incomes, over and above the regular COLA adjustment. This is a long-term mechanism... we also increased pensions and the Children's Allowance… We are doing what we can to lighten the burden but it is al- so a reality that Malta imports most of its daily needs and thus inflation is imported. The cost of living is a top pri- ority for us but the situation would have been much worse without the energy and fuel subsidies. Despite the various housing schemes introduced by your government there still is a problem of affordability for some people, who are not en- titled to social housing but cannot access bank financ- ing to purchase their house at current market prices. Do you recognise this is a problem and should government intervene by building a housing stock it can sell at below market pric- es? We have to recognise the fact that 80% of the popula- tion is a home owner. The challenge you mention is a reality. There are other chal- lenges as well. We have tried to address various… pockets of people who had difficulty accessing the home ownership market… Can government cap market prices? No. But we are addressing it through the af- fordable housing foundation, a public-private partnership with the church, which will offer affordable houses for these people. To do so, the foundation has to have a stock of property that it can offer at below market prices. This is one of the solutions we are working on. The Labour Party made open green spaces in urban environ- ments a main electoral plank. This has raised the bar and yet we have situations such as the land at Tal-Qortin in Mell- ieha, and the Council of Europe Garden in Gzira, where public open spaces are being given up for the construction of flats by the private sector and the relocation of a petrol station, respectively. Isn't this a con- tradiction? We put ourselves a high benchmark and we will meet it. In the first 100 days, we en- CONTINUED ON PAGE 10