This is more so considering that the government was already speaking about the strain that international oil prices was putting on Enemalta. In his reaction to the increase in the price of fuel products, as of Monday, Mr Mizzi accused the government of inertia, saying that it had remained passive before the repeated increases in fuel prices over the past months.

“If the government does not address the matter,” he said, “there is a good possibility that the water and electricity bills will also have to be raised.” The government said that this year’s change in oil prices will be absorbed by Enemalta, but failed to specify what will be done next year, and therefore an increase in water and electricity rates could not be excluded, he said. The new petrol and diesel prices will keep weighing down on thousands of Maltese families and a range of economic sectors, he said, adding that the increased charges confirm the incompetence of the Nationalist government.

The Nationalists had confirmed the negative effect of the new prices when they said in a statement that political advantage could be taken on the new prices.

The Nationalist government cannot do the opposite of what it had promised and then expect everyone to remain silent, he said, pointing out that the increase is the result of the Nationalist government’s decision to do away with the hedging agreement established by the previous Labour government for the purchase of oil at preferential rates.

Mr Mizzi stressed that since October 2001 fuel prices had gone up and that that regular petrol prices had increased by 11 per cent, unleaded petrol by three per cent and diesel by a staggering 57 per cent.

“Before October 2001 Lm5 would have bought some 25 litres of diesel while today the same money will only buy 16 litres of diesel.”

The fuel prices will certainly give no positive contribution to the economy, or to job creation, he said. On the contrary they will keep undermining our country’s competitiveness.

Regarding the government’s energy policy, Mr Mizzi said that the government had no strategy for alternative energy. Alternative energy would alleviate the cost for the general public while reducing damage to the environment. He also accused the government of dropping Labour’s plans to search for natural resources.

Mr Mizzi recalled a pamphlet that, he said, had been sent by the Nationalists before the 1998 election telling youths that the inflation rate was then unbearable. The increase in fuel prices revealed their hypocrisy, he said.