Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/824559
maltatoday, TUESDAY, 16 MAY 2017 News 8 MIRIAM DALLI THE Nationalist Party is pledg- ing to increase the financial as- sistance to persons with severe disability and who are unable to work. The increase, PN lead- er Simon Busuttil has pledged, will see the disability pension increased to match the mini- mum wage. Those who suffer from a se- vere disability, but who are still able to work, will receive the disability pension in full with- out any reductions. Amputees will also be entitled to the dis- ability pension. These proposals, along with others, were delivered by the PN leader during a programme on NET TV. "It's not enough to have a strong economy if people do not reap the benefits," Busuttil said. He said that a PN govern- ment, in partnership with par- ents, will set up trusts where both the government and the families pitch in in order to provide for the future of per- sons with disability when their parents pass away. "We are calling them 'Life Plans'," Busuttil said. The PN is also pledging to increase the number of small residential homes for persons with disability within the com- munities. It is also committing itself to continue helping NGOs who work in the sector. "Some of them already have such con- tracts and we believe that this is the way to go," Busuttil said. He has also pledged to in- crease the children's allowance while increasing the number of LSAs, in order to have more personnel available to work during the summer school hours. Allowance given to assist per- sons who would need to make alterations to their homes in or- der to cater for specific require- ments will also be increased. PN's proposals for disability sector: increased financial assistance, trust set-up Jason Azzopardi denies political intervention in property bought NATIONALIST MP Jason Azzopardi has denied pay- ing a cheaper price for prop- erty in Santa Lucija, which according to the Labour Party was bought for less than it was worth as a result of political intervention. He was reacting to claims made by Labour MP Mi- chael Falzon and candidate Ian Castaldi Paris, who ac- cused Azzopardi of using his position as parliamentary secretary in 2010 to allegedly accelerate a process allowing him to become the owner of land on which his house was built. But Azzopardi refuted the allegations, instead saying that the Labour administra- tion should apologise to the families who stopped receiv- ing monetary compensation for land expropriations dur- ing the 80s. "It was the Nationalist gov- ernment in 2008 that started addressing the injustice that affected thousands of fami- lies," he said. He then added that the land in Santa Lucija – on which the property is built – had not benefitted from any special treatment. "Other families had already benefitted from the process initiated by the National- ist government," Azzopardi said. The PL accused Azzopardi of knowing "exactly what he was doing" when he sought to buy the property and pay less than it was worth. However, Azzopardi ar- gued that all payments were done according to the value of the land in 2005. He said that between 2009 and 2012, the government had paid around €8 million so that families could be- come owners of the land on which their house was built. Some 600 families have ben- efitted from this measure.