Enemalta said yesterday it will today be operating the gas distribution service carried out every Saturday from fixed points after distributors announced they would not be doing their work in protest.

Earlier yesterday, their union, the GRTU, Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises said gas cylinder distributors would not be carrying out their work today, in protest at the delay by Enemalta Corporation in adjusting the commission due to them on each cylinder they sell. The GRTU said it submitted its claim on behalf of the distributors last October and agreement should have been reached by the end of the year because the process was relatively simple, seeing that the formula for adjusting the commission had been agreed upon years ago. It takes into consideration wage rises, diesel price increases, maintenance costs and other costs, such as insurance. The commission adjustment due is for three years and goes back to 1 January, 2006, a period during which distributors had seen their costs rocket, especially for diesel. The talks on the matter should have been concluded yesterday, the GRTU said, but Enemalta had not replied.

Enemalta said the union is requesting an increase of e0.253 (Lm 0.109) commission on each cylinder for the years 2007 to 2009. This would mean an increase of between 21 per cent and 24 per cent on the commission they receive for sales of gas cylinders, according to their size.

The Corporation said that these increases would be excessive and would have been a great burden to consumers who will be footing the bill.

Therefore, the Corporation said that in agreement with the GRTU, a renowned auditors’ firm had been commissioned to draw up a report to evaluate the request. This report, the commission said, was to be presented to the GRTU on Monday to serve as a basis for discussions. Therefore, the corporation said, it feels that the action taken by the GRTU is unwarranted and it has therefore decided to carry out the distribution service itself.