Every Project We Promised Will Take Place, Minister Farrugia Pledges After ‘Freeze’ Report
Minister for Capital Projects Aaron Farrugia has played down reports that certain infrastructural projects will be placed on the back burner as a result of an ongoing cost-cutting exercise.
“Journalists call us up practically everyday to ask us if all these projects will stop,” Farrugia said on ONE TV’s Paperscan this morning. “We will honour all our promises.”
“Should we be smart and decide which projects should be pushed forward more and which can be carried out a year later? Of course. However, while the PL government discusses which projects to prioritise, [the PN] is discussing whether to move their annual mass meeting from the Fosos.”
Earlier today, Sunday Times of Malta reported that the government intends to deprioritise certain infrastructural projects that are financed entirely by national funds so as to ensure the sustainability of energy subsidies.
The report said the impacted projects include the ITS campus at Smart City, a planned medical hub in the north of Malta and unnamed “headline projects” that were part of the PL’s winning electoral manifesto.
One of the PL’s major electoral pledges six months ago was a €700 million investment in green areas over a seven-year period.
This proposed investment includes major projects such as the complete pedestrianisation of Floriana’s main road, the conversion of the Ħamrun milk factory into a garden, the creation of a new village square in the centre of San Ġwann, and the creation of a garden between Bormla and Isla.
Amidst criticism by certain media outlets – including Times of Malta and MaltaToday – that the government policy of energy subsidies is unsustainable, Farrugia stood firm, arguing the economy will ultimately benefit.
“Energy subsidies currently amount to around €200-€250 million a year and they are forecast to increase to €1 million a day [€356 million a year],” he noted.
“When the PN were in government, they would just remark that these are the international prices and that households and businesses would just have to shoulder the burden. However, that would have meant €1,700 less a year for households, and this would have created a bubble and the country would have started regressing.”
“We didn’t only maintain energy subsidies to help families but because we know the policy will render economic pluses. The fact that the economy is still moving and the government is still investing money in capital projects and people will yield a return.”
Cover photo: Left: Minister Aaron Farrugia, Right: An artist’s rendition of a pedestrianised Triq Sant’Anna, a major PL manifesto pledge
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