Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/821520
maltatoday, TUESDAY, 9 MAY 2017 4 News Labour proposes the environment, YANNICK PACE A new Labour government would see to the protec- tion of the environment, the right to clear air and to environmental health, as well as the right to action in favour of the environment, enshrined in the constitu- tion, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said yesterday. Muscat put forward the proposal during a press conference as the Labour Party f leshed out another set of proposals falling within five priority areas – the environment, the retail sector, transport, health and education. "This election will pre- sent people with a choice on the direction they wish the country to take," said Muscat. "A decision based on principle, ideals, a way of thinking, policies and above all proposals." He added that following the proposals announced last week, the Labour Party would this week be discuss- ing a new set of proposals, all of which were realistic and costed. Environmental feelings on Sant'Antnin EN VIRONMENT and Re- sources agency board mem- ber and university academic Alan Deidun welcomed the government's pledge to add environmental protection to the constitution, arguing that environmental rights should be no different to other fundamental rights, which are constitutionally protected. He said that as yet, there were not enough details on the proposal to properly judge it. Similarly, he said the pro- posal not to have any public projects on Outside Devel- opment Zone (ODZ) land was a positive one, however he insisted that it misses the point. "The majority of ODZ developments are not large scale and do not pass through the planning board," said Deidun, adding that the majority of ODZ permits are granted by the planning commission, where there are more loop- Railway system planned – studies to be published THE Prime Minister made a bold pledge yesterday that a new Labour government would start work on the construction of a railway system. Addressing a political activity in Kirkop, Muscat said the government would in the coming days publish the full details of stud- ies it had commissioned on the feasibility of a mass public transportation system, that will include both light railway and under- ground systems. "We won't just publish the designs but the full details of these studies, after which we will launch a public consultation process," he said. "Work on this transport system will start under a new Labour government." Muscat also pledged that a new Labour government will offer free public transport to all children, students, pensioners and people with disabilities – an unprecedent- ed move that is estimated to cost some €3 million a year. People who give up their driving licence, even temporarily for a year or longer, would also be allowed to ride public transport for free. Free and supervised school transport would be extended to students who at- tend church and independent schools, as a means of combatting early-morning traffic caused by parents driving their children to school. 'Electoral Commission should solve voting document problem in serenity' The political activity took the form of a Q&A session, when Joseph Muscat urged the Nationalist Party not to undermine the Electoral Commission after reports that voting documents were lacking the most basic security features. PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami warned that the voting documents, which are set to be distributed to households from today, are not laminated and have been printed with ink that can easily be smeared or wiped off. Muscat did not deny the reports but ar- gued that the material on which the vot- ing documents were printed was approved unanimously by the entire Electoral Com- mission, which includes members appoint- ed by the Opposition. "It's a technical issue and we should all al- low the Electoral Commission to solve it in serenity," he said. "I don't want anyone to have any doubt about the electoral process, and I urge the Opposition not to try and undermine the electoral process." 'Busuttil's Freudian slip on Birgu betrayed his character' Muscat also took PN leader Simon Busut- til to task for his recent warnings that Birgu is facing a problem of drug abuse and social housing shortages. "Although I am not from the south, I still felt offended by Busuttil's words. He is try- ing to re-introduce the stereotypes that there are rich people and hamalli, when from experience I know that problems exist everywhere. I have seen drug abuse prob- lems in the wealthiest of families, and I have seen professionals who hail from poor families. I don't want to start a class war between the north and the south, the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots." He claimed that Busuttil's statement might have been a Freudian slip that be- trayed his deeply held beliefs. "A few years ago, Busuttil told [parliame- nary secretary] Deborah Schembri that she has the face of a Nationalist," he said to jeers from the Labour supporters. "He holds stereotypes that Nationalists are good and Labourites are bad and makes distinctions between the south and the north and between the rich and the poor. He doesn't know that the Maltese people share the same face – that of a hardwork- ing people." ... the government would in the coming days publish the full details of studies it had commissioned on the feasibility of a mass public transportation system, that will include both light railway and underground systems