Malta Labour Party MP Marie Louise Coleiro yesterday challenged the government to publish the social and economic impact assessments carried out before the budget measures for 2005 were announced.

After being told by Parliamentary Secretary Tonio Fenech that impact assessments were actually carried out before the budget measures were drafted, Ms Coleiro challenged the government to table these assessments in parliament.

The opposition expressed displeasure at the surcharge being introduced on water and electricity services and the raise in the price of kerosene. Although the issue that should have been discussed during yesterday’s sitting was the price of fuel oils, Labour MP Noel Farrugia explained that this issue was directly linked with that of the surcharge introduced in 2005.

“The price of fuel has risen and therefore this translated into the surcharge on electricity services since it is costing more for the power station to generate energy. Therefore discussions on the surcharge are more than legitimate,” he said.

Ms Coleiro said the surcharge was insensitive because larger families and households with disabled family members use more electricity. Such households should not be made to bear the surcharge since the increased consumption is no fault of their own.

In response to Ms Coleiro’s speech, PS Tonio Fenech explained that such families had been taken into consideration in the government’s calculations of the surcharge.

“The government was not blind to the economic and social needs of the country and the people,” said PS Fenech. Nevertheless, the opposition must keep in mind that energy production costs money, he said.

He explained that consultations were held with unions and employer bodies before the surcharge was introduced. Mr Fenech added that the impact of such surcharge would not be immediate since people are still receiving bills from last year. The surcharge is being enforced only on the consumption of electricity and water in 2005.

“The surcharge works on a mechanism that will allow for it to be reduced or even revoked completely once the cost of energy generation return to what it had been before the surcharge was introduced,” explained Mr Fenech.

Speaking about the raise in the price of kerosene, Mr Fenech explained that the government used to subsidise the price of kerosene since people used it to heat their homes. “Once the government realised that the people were using other ways of heating their homes, there was no reason to continue putting in as much subsidy,” he claimed.

When questioned on the impact the raise in price would have on the industry, the PS said kerosene was not kept at a cheaper price to benefit those in the industry sector since such a measure would favour those businesses which used kerosene over other business in the same sector.

In his address Labour MP Joe Mizzi spoke of his reservations regarding the surcharge and the raise in the price of kerosene. “Everyone is being made to suffer and pay more for kerosene simply because the government was not capable of catching those abusing of it,” he said.

In support of Ms Coleiro’s challenge to the government, he also demanded that the assessments made before the raise was introduced be published.

Resources and Infrastructure Minister Ninu Zammit was poised to reply to Mr Mizzi’s address. However, he did not even utter a word before the Labour MP called for a point of order. This gave rise to an uproar with the minister saying, “I have not even said anything,” and Mr Mizzi shouting “Get me the copies!” in the background.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Anton Tabone succeeded in calming the MPs by explaining that the minister had not yet spoken and that, as a result, there was no reason to call for a point of order.

Even after Minister Zammit finished his address, Mr Mizzi said he still was not convinced there had been any planning behind the introduction of the surcharge. This prompted Mr Tabone to state that enough had been discussed on this subject.

During the adjournment, PN MP Franco Galea made an appeal to the government – ask the United Nations to take responsibility of the detention centres in which illegal immigrants are kept. Referring to the incident at Hal Safi earlier this year, Mr Galea condemned both those who allegedly mistreated the immigrants as well as those who chose to point fingers at the Armed Forces of Malta.

He questioned whether an order was given for the immigrants to be forcefully removed from the premises. He also asked whether the reports of hand made weapons within the detention centre have any basis of truth.

“Weapons of the sort are a potential danger to the immigrants themselves, due to the clashes in religious beliefs among them,” said Mr Galea. The PN MP said he believes the living conditions within the centres should be improved.

“I do not necessarily think the immigrants should stay in Malta, but then again, they cannot be made to live in tents,” he stressed. If the immigrants are to integrate into our society, these people must be educated in accordance with Maltese culture and way of life, Mr Galea concluded.