Below is the text of Damon Bossino’s party political broadcast released yesterday evening:

Many of the issues we faced in the lead up to the 1996 election are confronting us again.

Take, for example, the Government’s secret economic plan, with confusion and vagueness being its hallmarks.  Now we have what is known as the National Economic Plan which is equally as confusing, vague and secret.  

Community Services and Supplies Limited – which I will refer to as CSSL for short - the company which the Government says would not exist were it not for the National Economic Plan is involved in very many projects which affect you, the citizen.  

However, other than information which we have been able to get from publicly available documents, there is little else that is being made known to you. 

We have asked many questions in Parliament but, at best, we have been provided with hazy replies and, at worst, complete silence.

We have been able to establish that CSSL is set up in a legal structure which has a charity at the top of it.  The aims of the charity are to “benefit the Gibraltarian community on any level such as the human, social, economic, educational and medical”.  

All these are things which you would expect a Government to be doing and not a separate and apparently independent structure.  This is an operation which would be subjected to Parliamentary questions and transparency, in particular as to funding, costs and expenses.  

As far as we know, this company is involved in the Victoria Stadium project, the Eastern beach promenade project, the 300 studio flats at Coaling Island, the old peoples’ home at Rooke, the pensioner flats at Laguna and the Chilton Court project.  

CSSL is therefore building pensioner flats, studio flats for key workers, car parks and offices for clubs, an 8,000-seater stadium and an old peoples’ home.

Its tentacles, as you can see from this list, are stretching far and wide and with few exceptions the developments it is involved in are not being publicised with the usual fanfare and PR glitz that we have grown accustomed to from this Government.  Why so much secrecy?  

You have quite rightly approached us with questions as to how all these projects are being financed; who are they for; whether planning considerations have been taken account of  - but to get answers to these questions has been like an exercise in pulling teeth.  

Let us look at the construction of the 300 50 m2 units at Coaling Island.

We are told from documents filed with the Planning Commission that these are for ‘temporary housing’; for the purpose of ‘adaptable accommodation for key workers’ and to ‘temporarily house…populations from neighbourhoods subject to alteration and demolition in urban remodelling’. 

As one of your Opposition MPs with responsibility for planning I asked in Parliament what anyone would consider would be reasonable questions to ask.  

We asked questions like (i) who the flats were intended to rehouse; and (ii) which ‘neighbourhoods’ were going to be altered and demolished.  

But no, the Government had different ideas.  They refused to answer a single one of those questions.  We were told that the Government ‘has no involvement’ other than ‘sponsoring the project under the National Economic Plan’. 

When pressed further it got to the point that I was told by the Minister that if I did not like the answer I should lump it as he didn’t care!  Yes, lump it, that’s what was said.

That wasn’t disrespectful just to me, it insulted the intelligence of the electorate.  

How is it possible that an application for planning can be signed on behalf of CSSL by a civil servant who describes himself as the ‘Head of International Division’ at the Ministry of Economic Development yet the Minister responsible distances himself as if this was a project he knows nothing about?  

All of this should worry us and you should not just have to lump it. 

In Government we will put an end to this opaqueness.  Parliament should have the ability to properly scrutinise transactions of this nature.  

This is why the GSD will carry out a root and branch change to the way we manage our internal affairs.

The need for an independent Allocation Board to take decisions on the award of contracts remains.  We are the only UK Overseas Territory without a Public Accounts Committee.  We need one to properly scrutinise the expenditure of your money. 

With all that is going on that message sadly remains relevant. 

Looking to the future, we will ensure that we have measures in place to stimulate the economy in circumstances where we will hopefully have a safe and secure deal with the EU.

We will be ready to offer you the alternative Government which can deliver for you in a cost-effective and prudent way; in essence a wholly different approach to that which has directed our fortunes in the last 11 years because it is clear that the GSLP/Liberals have lost their way and need to be replaced as soon as possible.

For all these and many other reasons, we sincerely hope that in 2023 we are given the opportunity to implement our programme for Government and usher in the change of direction that Gibraltar so badly needs. 

Finally, permit me to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude for your support and encouragement which is so evident in  town, the estates and the various events I have attended throughout the year and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah on behalf of my wife Rosa and I and to confirm I much look forward to continue to work on your behalf and for your benefit.