The Malta Labour Party is saying that the government has voluntarily taken the country into a crisis by introducing staggering utility bills that will cripple the economy. Labour is saying that at a time when people need money in their pockets, the government is taking it to pay for the fuel it needs to generate electricity and produce water.

The constituted bodies are up-in-arms against the government too. They chose not to speak to the media separately after a hastily-called meeting of the social partners forming part of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development, and instead issued a terse statement saying they were not impressed by “the government’s idea of consultation”.

This meeting was held a day after the government announced the newly-revised utility tariffs, after four weeks of negotiations at MCESD level did not lead to too many changes from the original proposals submitted in September.

Before Wednesday’s meeting was held, the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises and the Malta Hotels and Restaurants had issued statements in which they both said that the situation brought about by the government will have negative effects on the economy. People will be saving money to spend it on their energy bills, rather than spend it elsewhere, they are arguing. And this apart from the added costs that the industrial sector will be facing when hotels, firms, factories and companies receive the next bill.

The government, for its part, has defended its position saying that there was no other option, and that the international circumstances pushed it into taking such a drastic action. It dismissed the delaying tactics that seemed to have been employed by the social partners – the unions and the employers were never any closer, for different reasons – saying that any procrastination will only make matters worse.

The fact that the next national election is at least four years away – and so many things can change in the meantime – helped the government make such a move in no small way.

Let’s face it, the situation with regard to the international oil markets was far more difficult in the months leading to the election and right after it, and yet the government had then conveniently established the water and electricity surcharge rate at 50 per cent. It is only now, with the election safely out of the way, that the government can afford to take such a tough stand.

On the other hand, it must also be admitted that Enemalta Corporation must pay its bills (although it should also be more efficient, but that is another story) and the money must come from somewhere. In the past, we used to pay these indirectly through taxes; now we will be paying them directly with our money.

The MLP is trying to gain as much mileage as possible from the prevailing situation, and will organise what it is describing as a “national manifestation of courage” in protest against the government’s decision. The Nationalist Party’s response to this has been that such a call was made 11 years too late – recalling the time when the MLP, in government, had sharply increased the water and electricity rates when the price of oil was $12 per barrel.

We expect more of this political tit-for-tat in the coming days and weeks, and probably we will be reminded of it later when the election starts approaching too. So far, in spite of all the attention that this issue has been given by the media, the public is still to grasp the reality of the situation.

It will only be when the people start receiving their bills that they will realise how much they have started to pay for water and electricity.