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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 12 MARCH 2014 News 2 Muscat gets mixed reaction after one year in government VARIOUS experts and members of the consultative council – the MCESD – weighed in on Joseph Muscat's first year in government. The personalities rated the govern- ment's achievements from 1 to 10 – '1' being the poorest and '10' being the strongest rating. The results are in placed order from the best performances to the worst. Economy – 9 points from economist Karm Farrugia Economist Karm Farrugia said that government not only managed to discover the true potential of the Maltese economy, but found ways and means of expansion. Asked to specify, Farrugia said, "Malta has regained its credibility, especially with the EU, since gov- ernment is refusing to present devi- ous statistics of the public finances and the deficit". In this manner, Farrugia said, our financial burdens and targets where made clear and hence, the public know what we can achieve through the financial forecast. Civil Rights – 8 points from MGRM coordinator Gabi Calleja Malta Gay Rights Movement co- ordinator Gabi Calleja rated the government's attention to civil rights highly, largely owing to the necessary changes in the civil code, which ensure that transgender peo- ple who change their legal gender will have this change recognised to the full extent of the law – including in marriage. Calleja mentioned other achieve- ments such as establishing the Consultative Council and the Civil Unions Bill, which gives gay couples the same rights and obligations as marriage – including the rights and obligations of parenthood, the set- ting-up of a working group within the Ministry for Education and the Directorate for Educational Serv- ices, which will revise the policies related to bullying. Economy – 7 points from GRTU president Paul Abela President of the small busi- ness chamber (GRTU) Paul Abela deemed this year to be a positive one, from an economic angle. "In general, the government was approachable, willing to listen and able work hand-in-hand with the union. We are satisfied not only because the government listened to us, but it also implemented various proposal put forward by the GRTU," Abela said. He added that this year was a learning curve for the government and its top officials. "Nonethe- less, we voiced our suggestions and pending issues related to the small business community," Abela said. Tourism – 7 points from MHRA president Paul Bugeja Paul Bugeja, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Associations (MHRA) president, said that when one con- siders the tourist arrivals and spend- ing, last year was a positive one. "2014 promises to be positive due to various low cost airlines that have increased their frequency of f lights from Malta," Bugeja said. "The Tourist Police, the protec- tion of Touristic Zones, new avia- tion policies and other initiatives will coninue to improve our local product." Bugeja said that the MHRA deems that after a year of Muscat's gov- ernment, issues related to public transport, training of employees, unbearable bureaucracy in the pub- lic sector, issuing of visas and per- mits to construct permanent tents by restaurants seem to have been addressed. Health Sector – 6.5 points from MAM general secretary Martin Balzan Martin Balzan, general secretary of the Medical Association of Mal- ta, said that the quality of the serv- ice provided remained the same as before. MAM has a good working relationship with the Ministry for Health, however, regular problems such as the lack of beds, long aver- age waiting times and long waiting lists still persist. The elderly sector is catered for in another ministry, and as a result, more coordination is required in this area. Education – 5 points from MUT president Kevin Bonello President of the Malta Union of Teachers Kevin Bonello said that during this first year, the education sector lacked necessary attention from the government. "The gov- ernment was elected with various promises: sabbatical leave, the re- form fatigue and a sound consulta- tion process. None of these prom- ises were kept." On reform fatigue, Bonello com- mented that not enough time was given for stakeholders to take in the various reforms and to make things worse, they were presented with three major reforms in the second- ary education sector, in just a fort- night's time. Bonello said that ITS students at- tending the institute should still be under the care of the Ministry of Education (ITS is currently one of the branches of the Ministry for Tourism). Social sector – 5 points from activist Charles Miceli Charles Miceli, an activist in the social solidarity sector, said that he expected much more from the Labour government. He flags up the Green Paper on the reduction of poverty, presented by then Fam- ily and Social Solidarity Minister Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, and the €400 allowance to children at risk of Economy and civil rights rated best, health and environment worst performance of Labour's first year in government Jerome Caruana Cilia PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD Karm Farrugia Paul Bugeja Martin Balzan Kevin Bonello Gabi Calleja Paul Abela 9 7 5 6.5 8 7 YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt Joseph Muscat celebrating the Labour Party's electoral victory in March 2013

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