Now Vote To Recoup Vitals Money, PN Youth Activist Tells PL MP Who Flagged Expensive Property Prices And Tumbling Birth Rate
A PN youth activist has urged a PL MP who warned high property prices are contributing to a collapsing birth rate to vote with the Opposition on an upcoming vote on the Vitals-Steward hospital concession.
“Omar Farrugia is speaking the truth,” Thomas De Martino, who sits on the committee of the PN’s youth wing MŻPN, said after the PL MP’s powerful speech in Parliament.
“Many youths find it impossible to start a family thanks to exorbitant property prices, something the PN has been stressing for a while. They can’t keep up with the cost of living as is, let alone if they bring children into the world.”
De Martino urged Farrugia to vote with the Opposition on a motion on Thursday that will call on the government to open a court case against Steward to recoup the €300 million in public funds it had received after a court found the concession was fraudulent.
“On Thursday, Parliament will vote on whether government should open a court case to bring back the public funds which were sent to Vitals,” he noted. “With an extra €300 million, how many more schemes of affordable housing can we come up with?”
In a powerful Parliament speech, Farrugia warned that if the government doesn’t seriously address the problem of property affordability, the country’s future will be “destroyed”.
He noted that while property is more expensive in major Europeans such as Milan and Madrid, it is significantly cheaper on the outskirts. On the other hand, Malta’s market resembles an entire city centre, with property more expensive all around.
Farrugia suggested property prices are intrinsically linked to Malta’s birth rate problem, which at 1.13 children per woman is the lowest in Europe.
Meanwhile, art curator Lisa Gwen warned that Malta’s low birth rate problem goes way deeper than expensive property prices and the high cost of living.
“It’s the general quality of life. It’s everything, from the public transport, the state of roads and pavements, the vast amount of construction – everywhere – the lack of green spaces, the cultural offering, the quality of services, gender imbalance and inequality,” she said.
“This country is a mess. People want to leave – they don’t want to raise children in such a heavily-polluted environment, congested with people, cars, an insane amount of buildings (which just keep sprouting). The list, quite frankly, is never ending. Wake up and smell the coffee.”
Cover photo: Left: PN youth activist Thomas De Martino, Right: PL MP Omar Farrugia
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