Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/824559
maltatoday, TUESDAY, 16 MAY 2017 7 News PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES BIANCHI 'Fairer' fines for hunters and trappers, says Joseph Muscat PAUL COCKS THE Courts seem to impose the maxi- mum sentences in all cases involving hunters and trappers, and it was there- fore time to revise the schedule of fines relative to minor infringements, to make the sentencing more realistic, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said last night. "I myself have never felt any attrac- tion to hunting and trapping but I am a firm believer that the majority should not try to impose its will on the minority," he said. "Don't get me wrong, illegal hunting and trapping should be punished severely, but I be- lieve that most hunters and trappers have behaved impeccably in the past few years." Muscat was speaking in Gharghur at a public interview hosted by DJ Ozzy Lino, during which he appeared very much at ease and relaxed. Not so Ozzy, who appeared visibly excited to be hosting the event – despite his 160 million YouTube views – leading Mus- cat to even tease him about it. He said that Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil and Democratic Par- ty leader Marlene Farrugia were the country's most unstable partners and had no idea how to lead the country, "The only thing they have in com- mon is their hatred and their unpre- paredness to lead this country, as they have already demonstrated in count- less economic shortcomings that have been uncovered in proposals put for- ward by the two," he said. Muscat said that the Labour Party wanted everyone to see that Malta's best days are yet to come and that peo- ple should be looking forward to bet- ter health and education services, less taxes and more quality time to spend with the family. He said he had never let the fact that Malta was so small stop him from thinking big and from believing the country could achieve anything it set its mind to. "We managed to reach record levels of employment while at the same time introducing a number of measures, in- cluding free childcare, that have helped incentivise women to join the work- force," Muscat said. "I believe having people find gainful employment gives them the dignity they might feel they lack when unemployed." He said he was immensely proud that around 1,000 disabled persons had found a job under this administration. "I agree with opposition leader Si- mon Busuttil who today suggested that disabled persons who cannot work be granted a benefit equal to the minimum wage," he said. "So much so, that we have already implemented this exact same measure in the last budget." With regard to Busuttil's commit- ment to create 30,000 new jobs, Mus- cat said that the Labour government had managed to create 35,000 jobs in four years. Muscat said that Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil and Democratic Party leader Marlene Farrugia were the country's most unstable partners and had no idea how to lead the country